Final Fantasy IV: The Fate of One
by GWing0z
Summary: The story of Final Fantasy 4 with the addition of two characters that could change events for the better. Novelization of the game. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix. 

Chapter 1

The ocean was spread as far as the eye could see as a ship slowly passed through; cutting a path through it that left a large wake because of the size of the ship. The ship, which had run this route many times before, was heading for a small little island town of Agart. The captain of the ship, a tall, slender, yet well built man, with little above shoulder length sandy brown hair, looked over the side of the ship and watched as the ship broke through the grip of the water so that it could make it's way towards the town. He looked up around towards the sky and could feel the heat of the sun hit his face. The heat was better here further south than his town of Mythrila. 

"Captain Contru." The captain didn't even turn his head when he responded. 

"Yes, what do you need?" Contru turned and looked at him and was a little surprised at the appearance of his crew. All of them had taken off their armor they were wearing and now were just in shirts and trousers. 

"There is a storm ahead Captain and we wanted to know if you wanted us to stop, go around it or just go through it?" Contru had to laugh at the last part because since he had been the captain of this ship, every storm they come upon he just had them go through it. 

"Well first of all I want everyone in the crew to put their armor back on now. There are more monsters out there everyday and an unprepared crew could easily be killed." 

"But Captain, the heat here is almost unbearable while we're wearing the armor, why can't we-" 

"Like you said, _almost_ unbearable so get it on right now. I will not lose my crew because you all think it's a bit too hot to wear the armor that could save you." 

"Aye sir, and the storm?" 

"Drop anchor here. We'll wait this one out, but get the armor on because when we are stopped we are easier prey. Double to guards tonight alright?" 

"Aye sir." The crewman walked away and Contru looked in the direction of the clouds. _"We could easily go through that…ah no matter. This will give me some time to think anyway." _Contru walked down to his cabin and shut the door behind him. 

~

Contru sat in his cabin thinking about the items he was going to trade with Agart and then maybe head further on to Eblan to do some trading for Agart, and if Eblan had something he wanted, he would trade with them too. Contru looked more at the maps and then heard a knock at the door. 

"Who is it?" Contru never even looked up from the maps. 

"Who do you think it is." Hearing the familiar voice Contru lowered the map. 

"Come in." The door opened up and his only real friend of the crew walked in. Rog. His full name was Rogel, but everyone just called him Rog. He was a lot like Contru except his hair was more blonde than brown and he was just a little bit shorter than he was. 

"Studying the maps again?" 

"I just took over this ship only four months ago, I need to make sure I know my routes well." 

"Understandable. I'm surprised that you stopped. For the storm that is." 

"Yeah well I felt that I should give the men a little break. I have been running them hard lately. They deserve it." Contru looked at the map one last time and put it away. Just as he went to take his seat again, the rain started to pour down on the roof of his cabin. "Well here comes that storm finally." Contru took his seat and saw lightning and heard thunder as he lit another candle in the room. "So what brings you down here Rog?" 

"I was just thinking of everything that has been going on lately. You heard of the rumors from Mysida right?" 

"What? About the Red Wings of Baron attacking the town only a day before we arrived and taking their Water Crystal. I've been thinking about that too but with us not knowing anything about what happened exactly and why, we can't answer any questions we might have." 

"That's true Contru, but what if they go after the other crystals too, like Damcyan, Fabul, and Troia. What then?" 

"Then we don't do a damn thing because Mythrila has never been in Baron's way before and if Baron ever did do anything to us, it's like not we could fight them at all. All we have is our mythril and nothing else. Yes we have people that can fight off monsters on the open sea and the like, but besides that, we can't stand up to an army, especially not one that has the power of the airships." 

"Maybe you're right, but still. Baron is one of the most powerful kingdoms out there and if no one stops them now, then who will be able to later?" 

"The problem right now is that no one, can stop Baron. The power of the airships and those Dragoons and now that they have people training as Dark Knights maybe, there is no way to stop them. If Baron doesn't stop himself, then the whole world is doomed." Rog looked right at his friend of many years and was about to say something, when they both heard footsteps running towards the door. The door burst open and a crewman ran in. 

"Captain, monsters are attacking the ship!" 

"How many?" Rog asked. 

"About twenty or so sir, we are out numbered out there." Rog looked right at his friend and they both knew at the same instant. 

"Get everybody up on deck to fight immediately!" Contru went over by his bed and grabbed his Mythril sword and saw Rog leaving his cabin. Contru grabbed his cloak and put it on and went out after his crewman. 

~

Soon, they got to the stairs leading outside and Contru could hear the fighting and quickly climbed the stairs and got on deck. 

As soon as he was fully outside, Contru was completely soaked by the down pouring rain and saw some Eagles and Floating Eyes going around the ship. Contru noticed a Floating Eye coming right towards him, he pushed his crewman out of the way and drew his sword. As the Floating Eye went to hit him, Contru ducked out of the way and slashed the eye in the back, killing it instantly. Contru looked up and started to move towards one of the other Floating Eyes and heard the cry of a Zuu. Contru grasped his sword tighter but wasn't able to pinpoint the sound. As lightning flashed in the sky, he noticed a large area that wasn't illuminated when the sky flashed. Contru tried to follow it, but his eyes hadn't had time to adjust to the darkness outside so he wasn't able to spot how it was flying. During his lapse, an Eagle was preparing to attack him, but Contru noticed it right before it attacked and was able to kill it as it flew. Contru started to head for some of the crew that was dealing with a Floating Eye when he again heard the Zuu and saw it again as lightning flashed in the sky. This time though, he was able to follow it and it turned and started to head down towards the ship. Contru moved with the large, black bird as he could barely see it and when it got low enough to the ground, he slashed at it. He was able to hit underneath the body and the Zuu fell down on the deck. Just as he was about to deal the finishing blow, the bird hit him with its large wing right on his right arm. Contru dropped his sword because the all rain had caused the handle to get very wet and hard to hold. 

"Damn." He went to go grab it but as he turned around, he heard the Zuu cry in pain and fall limp on the deck. He strained his eyes to see who had killed it. A person came around from the other side and walked towards him. 

"I won't always be there to help you Contru." 

"Shut up Rog. Let's finish these monsters off." Contru picked up his sword again and the two of them spilt up. 

~

In a few minutes, with the entire crew fighting on deck, all the monsters had been killed or had run away. Contru met up with Rog after the fighting had ended and had started talking when the head of that night's guard came to them. 

"Sir, a few of the men suffered minor injuries but nothing to serious." 

Contru studied the man for a minute and then said. "Take them down to get patched up, I don't need anyone getting infected on this trip, alright. How long did you notice the monsters coming?" 

"Sir, all we noticed at first was the Zuu. The Eagles and Floating Eyes came at us out of nowhere. We didn't see them coming." 

"I see. Issues everyone on the guard tonight bows and arrows so they can get them from a distance." 

"Sir, all we have are Crossbows, not any regular bows sir." 

"Well issue them anyway, understand?" 

"Yes sir, it will be done right away sir." The man turned around and started to head towards the armory to get the weapons. Contru looked up towards the sky as the rain continued to belt down on them and another lightning bolt went across the sky. 

"I say we should get down below before _we_ turn into water." Rog had a large smile on his face as the water from his hair ran down on his face, onto his lips. 

"That's a good idea." Contru turned towards the steps that lead downstairs and went to his room where he dried off and went to bed for a troubled night of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 2

Contru walked up on deck to nice bright sunny day and felt the wind blow through his hair. The ship had been under way since the first minutes of light outside. Contru used to have to tell them to get the ship moving after a night, but the crew had got use to the way he worked and so he didn't need to be up to get the ship moving again. They had been going for a few hours and Contru was now able to see Agart in the distance. Contru pulled out his Mythril sword from its sheath and looked at it. The sword was made of the whitish, strong metal that only came from the mines around the town of Mythrila. The handle of the sword wasn't anything too elaborate, but it still had the look of elegance to it. The handle was made of regular iron that had been painted with a red color. Contru put the sword back into the sheath and turned to head towards the bow of the ship. He went to the very front of the ship and looked towards the small island that Agart lied on. The only thing that set the island apart from the rest of the islands that were in the ocean was the giant mountain range that was north of the town. Contru turned back around and looked around at his crewmen. They all had the armor on this time because of the lecture they had received the day before and each was carrying a crossbow with a full supply of arrows. Contru nodded his approval and went to find Rog. 

~

Finding Rog wasn't hard; he was almost always near the stern of the ship. Rog looked deep in thought when Contru walked up behind him. 

"Thinking about the Crystals again?" 

"What do you think?" 

"You might as well stop worrying about the Crystals, there's nothing either of us can do. Let's just worry about Agart, okay? We need to get this trade in today or we will be short on Gil for the crew." 

"Yeah you're right. So how much do we need to trade to Agart today to make ends meet?" 

"We need to sell at least 1,000 pounds of mythril to just make ends meet." 

"That sure is a lot? Why so much?" 

"All the repairs and upgrades done to the ship cost more than we thought but if we sell a thousand pounds to anyone, Eblan or Agart, it won't matter." 

"Eblan has never wanted mythril, why would they start now?" 

"I don't know. We have to try at least, don't we?" 

"True. Maybe I should become a mercenary so I can get away from this ship and not worry about paying anyone." 

"You know you would never do that." 

"Wanna bet?" 

"I don't need to, cause I know I'm right." 

"Well…ah, you're right." 

"See. Well we'll be at Agart soon so start getting everything ready, alright?" 

"Okay." Rog turned around and started towards the cargo holds so that they could get the chocobo and the traveling carts to make the trip across land to Agart. 

~

It was about the middle of the afternoon when they pulled into the docks near Agart. The rest of the sailing to Agart had been easy and the docks near the city were empty as usual. Getting the carts and the chocobos off the ship was easy. Contru only took about a fourth of the crew with him on the traveling to Agart because areas near towns had fewer monsters than open parts of the world did. There were two people on the cart to control the chocobos and then there was about six or seven people walking around the cart. Contru had made Rog stay at the ship to keep watch over it. Rog had easily agreed, not minded keeping an eye on the ship because there was never anything to do in Agart except trade. The cart had so much mythril in it that the chocobos were pulling the cart slower than most people could walk normally. Contru was looking around keeping an out for any monsters because he didn't need to lose anyone now. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye and he stared in the direction that he saw the movement. Contru pulled his sword out just a little bit and had the cart halt. 

__

"If we get attacked by monsters, it won't do any good to try to have the cart run cause it would get chased down." Contru continued to look around but then heard a noise from behind the cart. "Draw your weapons!" By the time he had rounded the cart, one of the monsters, which was a Sword Rat, had been killed. The rest of the monsters in the attacking party were just Imps and Imp Captains, nothing that his men couldn't handle. Contru sheathed his sword again and told the cart to start moving even before the last Imp had been killed. Contru headed towards the lead of the group and could see the smoke of chimneys coming from Agart as they drew closer to the town. 

~

Back on the ship Rog looked onto the water. _"Why isn't Contru worrying more about Baron. Someone is going to have to do something. Maybe if the Monks of Fabul and the Ninja of Eblan worked together they could stop Baron. Maybe even Mysidia would want to help and lend a hand with their magic. Maybe then Baron could fall. _Rog went back towards his quarters inside the ship. 

Closing the door behind him, Rog looked at all the weapons he had gathered over his years with this ship, first with Contru's father and now Contru himself. _"My whole life has been on this ship. I don't know what else I would call home if I lost this."_ Rog stared at the painting on the wall of the ship. It was Contru, Contru's father, and Rog. It had been done many years ago while the two boys had been nine or ten years old. 

__

"I remember those days. I remember never having to worry about anything and now I'm the second on a trading ship with my best friend as captain." Rog turned towards his desk which held various items from around the world. On the desk was a ninja star from Eblan, a fighting suit from Fabul, an item from Mysidia that supposedly had magical powers in it, and also some plant from Troia. Rog had been the only one out of those three that had collected stuff from each place. Rog lay down on his bed and decided to get a quick nap before Contru got back because the ship never had problems in port. _"If we do have problems the crew will come and-"_ and before he could finish the thought, he was asleep. 

~

The cart rolled into the town and Contru saw all the familiar buildings. All of the buildings had been made from stone from the nearby mountains, but due to earthquakes that frequented the area, most of the buildings had been reinforced with iron, which the town had mined from the nearby mines. Each of the buildings had the same brownish hue because of the stone in the area. Each building was rather small because of the small part of the island it took up. Mainly only the foundations had iron added to it to keep them from collapsing on itself from the inside out. He saw the building that held the bottomless well at the center of town. Contru smiled when he remembered how Rog and him had dropped rocks and the like down it to see if it really was bottomless, and they had never heard a sound. Contru looked to the left and saw the Observatory where the astrologer, Corio, studying the moon again. _"I wonder if anything has changed with that dead rock or if it's still dead."_ He then looked at the Inn where he stayed sometimes if he would be staying over night, but Contru wanted to be on his way home tonight. The Item Shop was also in there as well. _I might need some more Potions and some more herbs to heal other injuries._ Contru started to lead the cart around the well and spotted the weapon and armor shop. The shop only sold very inexpensive iron items that were no where near the quality of the mythril he was bringing with him. They rounded the well all the way and saw the Mayor's house. All of the dealings of the town went through that one building and the Mayor. Just as they were approaching the house the Mayor walked out. 

"Contru, is that you?" 

"Yes it is Mayor Dean, and I have plenty of mythril for you." 

"How much are you carrying of it?" 

"Well I'm carrying 4,500 pounds of it. How much do you need?" 

"How much does it cost per pound?" 

"100 gil per pound." 

"Okay, we'll take all of it." 

Contru almost fell over with surprise. That was 450,000 gil. "I mean no offense Mayor, but do you even have 450,000 gil to pay for the load?" 

"Yes we do. We have made a good deal of money in selling our inexpensive iron around the world. The ninja of Eblan bought over 100,000 pounds of it, said they needed to produce more of their ninja stars and their swords." 

"Where did you get that much iron from? You haven't been able to get that much out of the mines for awhile." 

"Look around Contru." 

Contru started to look around and noticed something; all the iron that had been on the houses for support was gone. "Are you replacing all the iron with mythril?" 

"Yes we are, the earthquakes seem to be getting stronger and the iron isn't able to hold up much longer. We need the stronger, more flexible mythril to support our homes." 

"I see. Well you know I only take full payment." 

"I know, same policy as your father, be right back." 

As the mayor vanished Contru looked at his men and they started to unload the mythril out of the cart and he could almost see the relief on the chocobos faces as the weight vanished from their backs. Contru turned back around to see the mayor come out of the house with a rather large bag that looked hard to carry. The mayor put it down and looked at Contru. "Two more where that came from." The mayor turned to go back in but Contru stopped him.

"Wait Mayor, I'll get one bag and I'll have one of my men get the other." Contru motioned to one of the men and they both went inside the house. When they walked in they saw the neat and tidy manor the mayor kept his house in. They saw the bags on the table and Contru grabbed the bigger one. When he lifted the weight he was a bit surprised at how heavy it was but was still able to lift it up easily. The other crewmen picked the other bag out and they brought both bags out and put them on the cart, where the other bag was already placed. When all the mythril was unloaded Contru walked back over to the mayor to make sure he would be able to get the mythirl some place. 

"Yes we'll be fine. We really can't wait." 

"Wait for what?" 

"The return of our ancestors." 

__

"Oh goodness, here comes the stupid dwarf thing again." The people of Agart believed that they had come from some kind of under world where everyone was a dwarf. "So you think the earthquakes are a sign that they are coming back or something, that the opening will open back up in the mountains north of here?" 

"Yes, but we don't want to be killed when it happens so we needed the mythril." 

"Ok. Well I think my crew and I should be getting back to the ship, we have a couple days of journeying back to Mythrila."

"Alright, may Leviathan watch over you." 

Contru gathered up all of his men and they started to head out from the city. When they got outside the city Contru looked towards the northern mountains. _"Could the dwarves be coming back…what am I thinking." _He went to the head of the group as he saw the sun start to set over the western horizon. He quickened the pace so they could be back at the ship before complete dark. "Yes, but we don't want to be killed when it happens so we needed the mythril." 

"Ok. Well I think my crew and I should be getting back to the ship, we have a couple days of journeying back to Mythrila."

"Alright, may Leviathan watch over you." 

Contru gathered up all of his men and they started to head out from the city. When they got outside the city Contru looked towards the northern mountains. _"Could the dwarves be coming back…what am I thinking." _He went to the head of the group as he saw the sun start to set over the western horizon. He quickened the pace so they could be back at the ship before complete dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 3

Cecil looked off the ship towards Fabul Castle as the sun was rising from over the mountain in the east. _"Everything has just gone wrong."_ Cecil drew the sword he had just received from the King of Fabul. The Death sword shone in the light with its red glare. The sword looked like its blade was made from pure blood but it was just a normal iron blade that had been granted evil powers that could kill anything with one strike. Cecil had tested the sword out while traveling to the docks and even the tiniest scratch had caused a Sword Rat to die instantly. Cecil could feel the evil power flowing from it, calling him to-Cecil looked away from the sword and put it back in its sheath. Cecil then started to look over his new armor he was wearing. He had picked up the new armor in Fabul because of the Dark Knight who left the Death sword had also left everything else too. The armor was a dark black that seemed to cast a shadow from him. Cecil looked up towards some of the people on the ship. The first person he saw was the Summoner Rydia. She was just a small child of seven years, with green hair and clothes that a child would wear on any regular day. The small child was one of the most powerful people that had joined with Cecil during his travels. When Cecil and Kain had been ordered to attack the Village of Mist, where all the summoners lived, they had to defeat a dragon of mist guarding the entrance to the town but when they had killed the dragon, they had killed Rydia's mother. Kain had tried to kill Rydia but then Titan, another summon, saved her. Cecil had woken up with Rydia and took her to the nearest town and protected her from Baron soldiers. 

__

"Kain…Why?" Cecil still couldn't understand what had happened. While Cecil, Yang, and Edward had been defending Fabul's Wind Crystal, Kain had appeared and attacked Cecil. After Kain had taken down Cecil, Golbez who was now the leader of the Red Wings, had come and had Kain take the Crystal and Golbez himself had taken Rosa.

__

"Rosa…I will save you, I promise." Cecil then looked over towards the young King of Damcyan, Edward, who had blue eyes with shoulder length blonde hair that was very fine. The young king had lost his entire family during the attack on Damcyan and even his wife too. Cecil had arrived at Damcyan shortly after the Red Wings had attacked the castle and taken their crystal. Cecil then looked as Yang, the monk they had saved on Mt. Hobs on their journey to Fabul. Yang was a very large man with a body build that was almost double Cecil, who was no small man. His hair had all been shaved off and only a small little pony tail from the top of his head down to his shoulders was behind his head. 

"Are we all set to go?" Cecil started to walk away but Yang looked at him even more so. 

"Cecil don't worry about Rosa. Once we find this Cid and have an airship, everything will be okay. So stop worrying." Cecil looked at the monk and turned and walked away. 

"Cecil, why don't you take off that helmet so we can see what you look like under there?" 

Cecil had been avoiding this until now but decided to just tell the truth finally. "I choose to keep this on because of the darkness that I carry and I want to hide what I am from the world." Cecil continued to walk until he was off the deck and in his room. Cecil could feel the ship start to move as they got under way. 

~

Cecil had spent most of the morning in his cabin. He finally came out when it was almost noon. 

"There he is!" Yang cried when he came on deck. "We were wondering if you had fallen off the ship." 

Cecil was not amused at all by this. Edward walked towards Cecil, but instead of joining in, he asked a question. 

"What is the plan exactly Cecil?" 

Cecil hadn't expected that question to be asked but he was willing to answer it. "We will sneak into Baron and then find the engineer Cid. Once we find Cid, it's up to him to get us an airship." The plan seemed simple enough but who knew what else could go wrong. Cecil continued towards the bow of the ship and looked out at the sea. He remembered flying over this ocean only a few days ago as he had gone to Mysidia and took their Water Crystal. _"Can they ever forgive me?" _Cecil's thought continued as the ship moved on its course. 

~

Contru walked up on deck and a cold wind blew onto him, making his hair move in the wind. The ship had just passed Mysidia and they had no need to stop, so they didn't. _"With the speed we're going at we'll be home by midnight tonight."_ The winds had been on their side since leaving Agart so that the ship had gone that much faster then they thought. Contru spotted Rog walking towards him with something in his hand. 

"What do you have in your hand Rog?" 

"That stone from Mysidia, it's glowing." Rog opened his hand and Contru could see a dim white light emanating from the stone. It was hard to see in the bright sunlight but when Contru covered the sunlight from it, he could tell it was glowing. 

"Do you have any clue what it means?" 

"How the hell would I know Contru, the Elder gave it to me when I was thirteen years old." 

"True. Well maybe we should've stopped but too late now. When did you notice it glowing?" 

"Just a minute ago. It was buried in my stuff so I didn't notice until I cleaned up my cabin a little bit." 

"I see. Well just keep it in sight and let me know if anything changes, okay?" 

"Hey Contru, do you think it could have something to do with the stolen crystal?" 

"I don't know, maybe. Only the Elder would know." Rog shrugged his shoulders and walked back under the deck. 

__

"Maybe it does have something to do with the crystals. Maybe it's some kind of alarm that the crystals are being taken." Contru broke away from his thoughts and decided to check on the crew. 

~

They had sailed all day and as dusk was approaching Cecil looked at the coming darkness. 

__

"Darkness, the reality of what's inside of me. There is no light in here but yet how do I hold off the darkness from consuming me?" Cecil was at the bow of the ship and the water started to produce more waves than normal. Cecil looked down at the water and saw a whirlpool start to appear. Everyone in the group, including the entire crew, ran up to the bow of the ship to see. 

"Oh my goodness, the sea monster Leviathan!" Just as the crewmember said that, a giant sea snake came out of the water. The ship started to shake with more violence as the captain tried to calm the crew down. 

"Man your posts. Get the sails down, man your posts." Just as the captain finished the sentence the ship was hit by a large wave. Rydia lost her balance and went flying overboard. 

"Rydia!" Yang jumped over the rail and into the water after Rydia. 

"Yang! Rydia!" Just then another wave hit the ship sending Edward face first onto the deck. 

"Edward!" Cecil rushed over to him but another wave hit the ship, sending him face first into the deck as well. Cecil start to hear everything go quiet and then the darkness over took him. 

~

Contru's ship pulled into the docks near Mythrila at around midnight. The monsters had stayed away from them the entire trip so it had been a very peaceful one. Contru got his chocobo out of the stables near the docks and headed on his way home. The town was a little further north than the docks. Rog caught up with Contru. Rog had been asleep when the ship had come in and Contru had to wake him up. Rog still had sleep on his eyes as they rode their chocobos towards their small little hometown. Rog pulled out the stone and it looked even brighter at night. 

"Is it brighter Rog?" 

"No, it just looks brighter cause of the darkness." When Contru looked at it now, it seemed to be bright enough to light a dark hallway because of the level of light coming from it. 

"Ah, I wonder what we will have to do tomorrow after we pay the crew and the laborers at the docks who had fixed the ship. I wonder what my father has in for us now." 

Rog chuckled at this. Contru respected his father very much but the guy was a bit out there at times. 

In just a little bit the two of them were heading into the moonlit town. Not a single soul was up at this hour. Right near the entrance to the left was the town Inn. It was large enough to suit all those who came to the town, which was never very many. 

"I'm going home now. See you tomorrow morning." 

"Night Rog. Next time try to stay awake until we get here." 

"Okay Contru. Night." 

Rog's house was right near the entrance as well, but across the street from the Inn. Rog got off his chocobo and walked it towards the stable at his house. Rog took off the saddle and lead the chocobo into it's stable. 

Contru continued onward around the Inn and spotted the Weapon and Armor shops. That was the only place in the world that sold the Mythril equipment that was so well known around the world. Contru looked past those shops and saw the Item shop.

"Definitely have to go over there tomorrow with all this money I have." Contru turned towards his house however and headed into the stable. He hopped off his chocobo and took off its saddle. The chocobo then walked right into its own stable. 

"Chocobos, such smart animals. Got to love them." Contru scratched behind the chocobo's ear and left the stable and into his house to get to his bed to sleep. 

~ 

Contru woke up the next day about midmorning and walked into the house's small kitchen and grabbed an apple. He heard the door open and knew that his father had come back in. 

"How did it go Contru?" 

"It went really well. We sold all the Mythril to Agart and made 450,000 gil. They were able to pay for all of it."

"That's great. You pay the crew yet?" 

"No. I'm meeting them at the docks today to pay them and the laborers who repaired the ship. We'll have plenty of money afterward." 

"Good. Looks like lady luck has befallen you my boy. Just remember that trade won't always be so well." 

"I know that Dad. I understand that and I've seen you do this stuff long enough to know what I'm doing." 

"I know, I know. I just have to give you a hard time. Oh yeah, the Armor shop keeper wanted to see you today." 

"Why? What did I do now?" 

"Nothing. He just needs to talk to you about something that happened a couple of days ago while you were gone." 

"Ok. Well might as well take care of it now." Contru finished the apple and threw the core into the trash as he walked out the door. 

~

Contru got his chocobo out of the stable and rode it to the shop because he was going to head straight to the docks afterward. Contru jumped off the large bird and tied it on a post outside the shop. Contru went in and spotted the shopkeeper. 

"Hello. My father said you wanted to talk to me about something." 

"Yes Contru, yes." The old man sat back down on his stool behind the counter and rested himself against the wall. "A man came in here the day you left looking to buy armor." 

"So what, lots of people come here looking for armor, what's the difference with this guy." 

"This knight didn't come by ship, he came in here with airships, all of which we red." 

"The Red Wings?" 

"My only guess seeing as how Baron is the only one with airships." 

"Was he a Dark Knight because I heard that the Red Wings captain was a Dark Knight." 

"No he couldn't have been. His weapon was a spear." 

"A Dragoon. I guess the Dark Knight lost the position." 

"Well this Dragoon, as you call him, didn't seem to be there commander, he was just with them. There was another man in black armor with his face hidden that was the commander but-" 

"He must've been the Dark Knight then." 

"Contru, would you let me finish. As I was about to say the man didn't have a sword at all, he looked more like a mage of some sort." 

"Hmm. This is strange because when we stopped at Mysidia their Water Crystal had been stolen just the day before by Baron." 

"This sure is a strange turn of events here Contru." 

"Yes it is. I think I'll be bringing all of my equipment with me on my next trip out, just in case. That all you wanted to talk to me about?" 

"Yes. Nice seeing you again." 

"You too." Contru left the shop and grabbed his chocobo. 

"First the Item shop, then the docks." Contru led his chocobo towards the shop and tied it up and walked in to do his shopping. 

~

Cecil could hear waves coming in near him and could feel water on him. Cecil opened his eyes and saw a huge open beach in front of him. _"Where am I?" _Cecil stood up and could feel the sand shift around in his armor and the water all over him. Cecil looked around and started to walk forward. 

"Rydia! Yang! Edward!" Cecil yelled their names at the top of his lungs but no one responded. "I'm all alone again." Cecil started to walk forward and soon spotted the end to the beech. The area in front of him was a wide-open area of tall grass and nothing much else. Cecil looked to the eats and saw some smoke coming from over in that direction. 

"Must be some sort of town over there." Cecil turned that direction and start for the town. 

~

As Cecil approached the town he recognized it right away. _"Mysidia…"_ Cecil started to think and remembered that there was no other towns anywhere near Mysidia at all. Cecil walked up to the town and walked in. Cecil looked around and almost immediately the mages recognized him. 

"It's the Dark Knight of Baron!" As soon as Cecil heard the cry he went running for the Elder's house, the only place where he might be safe. Cecil didn't even pay attention to the town as he ran straight ahead to the large house that the Elder lived in. Cecil opened the door and closed it quickly behind him. He locked the door and heard people start to try opening it. Cecil walked back towards where he knew the Crystal Room was but stopped when he saw the Elder. Cecil heard the door burst open behind him and went running to the Elder. 

"Elder! I need your help!" The Elder turned around and saw the Dark Knight running towards him.

"Why should I help you?" Cecil was about to answer but then he was hit from behind by a magic spell. The Elder's face went red with anger. The mage was beginning to cast another spell but the Elder stopped him. 

"Stop this at once!" 

The mage had an astonished look on his face and lowered his arms. "Sorry Elder. I just thought we should bring this demon to justice." 

"That's enough. All of you leave me with him." 

"But Elder! He-"

"I said leave!" The power of the Elder's voice shocked all of the mages in the room and they all left, slowly, but they left. "Now Dark Knight, why should I help you?" 

Cecil could feel the pain searing into his back from the spell. Cecil knew the Elder wasn't going to do anything about it till Cecil told him what he needed. "I was one my way to Baron to rescue someone who was taken by Golbez, who now controls Baron and is the one behind taking the Crystals. My group and I were going to Baron to find an airship so we could rescue our friend and get the crystals back. I need to use the Devil's Road to get to Baron and get an airship to save her. Please help me." Cecil could feel tears running down his face, not from the pain in his back, but because of Rosa. 

"I see. Mary come her now please!" A White Mage came running into the room. 

"Yes Elder?" 

"Heal this man. Him and I have to talk about some things." 

"Yes Elder." The women laid her hands on Cecil's back and he could feel the power of the Cure spell go through him. The pain in his back started to fade until it was all gone. 

"Thank you very much." Cecil stood up and faced the Elder. "Will you open the Devil's Road so I can get to Baron?" Mary walked away as Cecil waited for the Elder's answer. 

"You cannot travel to Baron, not yet at least. You are going against a force that is pure evil. There is no way that evil can ever defeat evil. The only way to defeat this Golbez is to fight with the power of light. You must go to Mt. Ordeals to become a Paladin." 

"A Paladin?" 

"A Light Knight, the exact opposite of the Dark Knight you are now. You must go there and relinquish your Dark Sword for a Holy Sword. Are you ready to face this challenge?" 

"Yes I will do whatever it takes to become a Paladin and get rid of this evil inside of me." 

"It will be a very difficult journey on your own so I will send some mages with you. Palom! Porom!" 

Cecil turned around and saw a small girl walk in. She was wearing a green cape with a regular green shirt and red pants underneath. Her hair was nice and neat in a ponytail behind her head. 

"Where's Palom?" The Elder ha d a questioned look on his face but a puff of smoke appeared next to Cecil and a young boy was inside of it when it cleared. 

"Some entrance huh?" The little boy wore a cocky smirk on his face. He was dressed similar to the girl in dress, but his hair was a mess on top of his head and his color of clothes were the opposite as well. 

"These were the two mages you were speaking of?" Cecil was about to leave without them because he did want to have to baby sit. 

"They are two very powerful mages for their young age and they are the only ones who will help you on this trip." 

"What I have to help this bastard! I don't want to-" The boy stopped his tirade when the girl hit him on the head. 

"Stop that now Palom. I'm sorry for my brother, sir. I'm Porom, a White Mage in training here at Mysidia and that here is my little brat of a brother Palom." She stopped talking and looked at her brother. "Palom introduce yourself to him." She grabbed her brother and brought him in front of him. 

"S'up dude?" 

"Elder I appreciate the offer but I think I will go alone. I'm not going to baby sit any little kids." 

"Don't worry Cecil, you won't have to baby sit them at all, right children?" 

"Yes Elder." They answered in unison, but Palom seemed to force it. 

"You should leave as soon as possible. It will take the rest of the day to get to Mt. Ordeals. Here is some money to buy the twins some better equipment for the trip up the mountain." The Elder handed him some gil. "That should cover any cost they need." 

"Thank you Elder. Ready to go you two?" 

"Yeah!" Palom answered with a loud yell while Porom merely nodded. 

Cecil went into town and bought them the equipment they would need and they left the town and started head east towards Mt. Ordeals. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 4

Cecil woke up and looked out as the sun slowly rose in the east. It was still very early as Cecil walked over to the twins who were still dead asleep. Cecil first reached Palom and bent over to wake the small child from his slumber. 

"Come on Palom, get up. We need to get moving." 

"Five more minutes." Palom rolled over and started to fall asleep again. Cecil mumbled under his breath. Palom had been the biggest problem since leaving Mysidia. The boy did have strong magical powers, but his arrogance at times had almost cost them their lives on numerous occasions. Cecil couldn't even count the number of times that he had had to save the boy's life. 

"Up now!" Cecil pulled the blanket off of the boy and stood him up. Palom had a look of shock on his face, but after Cecil looked at him long enough, Palom started to get ready. 

Cecil walked over to where Porom was and found her already set to go. 

"Sorry about Palom, he can be a pain some times." 

"It's okay." Cecil turned towards the mountain just a little north of them. The mountain was Mt. Ordeals, where he could finally be free of the darkness that was cursed with him. 

Cecil had wanted to get on right away the day before but they had arrived so late that it was already too dark to see very far in front of them on the ground, let alone on a mountain. Cecil didn't want to risk their lives by trying to go up the mountain, so they had made camp that night. Now it was time for him to face the trails and dangers on the mountain. Cecil looked over at the twins and saw that they were both ready. 

"Palom, Porom, let's go." Cecil locked his sheath onto his armor and started to head towards the mountain with the twins following closely behind him. 

~

Contru looked around his room one last time to make sure that he had everything. 

"Contru, Rog has been waiting for nearly ten minutes, don't you think you should get your butt moving so he doesn't get mad at you?" 

Contru kept his temper down because he knew blowing up at his father would do nothing good for him. "I'm almost done. I just want to make sure I didn't forget anything." Contru walked towards the door, had one last look at the room and was satisfied that he had everything. He grabbed his bag, which was placed near the door, and headed past his dad, outside to see Rog standing there patiently. 

"Took you long enough." 

"Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't leaving anything behind." Contru walked into the chocobo stable at his house at got his chocobo out of it's stable. Contru put the saddle on it and then grabbed his sword and placed it around his waist. Contru hopped on the chocobo and lead it out to where Rog's chocobo was waiting. Rog hopped on his and started to go up alongside his friend. 

"It sure has been a long time since we went into the woods to just have a fun trip." 

"Well I figured we should take the opportunity with this time off to enjoy ourselves. We need this trip after all the problems we have had lately with our trade stuff and all the stupid monsters out there." 

"Isn't going to forest just make us run into more monsters?" 

"Maybe but I would much rather deal with monsters while I'm on land then when I'm in the middle of the ocean on something that could come down under my feet." Contru placed his bow and arrows on a notch on the saddle for an easy access to everything. 

"True…" 

When the two of them had been younger they had always headed into the forest to have a fun time and to also train themselves with their small little wooden practice swords. It had been fun times so the two of them wanted to relive a quick portion of their pasts before they really had to care about all of the trading of their small little home town. 

~

The rest of the trip to Mt. Ordeals had been uneventful and Cecil had liked it. The group started to head right to where the entrance to the mountain pathway, but as they came closer; they all could feel an increase in temperature. 

"Do you two feel the heat here?" 

"I know I do Sir Cecil, Palom do feel it too?" 

The brother looked over at his sister and gave her an exasperated look and wiped sweat from his forehead. "Does it look like I can feel it." Palom wiped some more sweat off his forehead as they rounded another corner. 

After they rounded the corner, they all found out the reason for all the heat. Right in the middle of the pathway was a huge wall of fire. 

Porom looked right at her brother. "Well what are you waiting for?" 

"Yeah, yeah, keep you hair on." Palom walked a little bit closer to the firewall. Cecil started to worry about the younger boy because he was so close to flame, but Palom showed no fear. He pulled out his Ice Rod that Cecil had acquired back in Mysidia for the little boy. Palom started to chant under his breath and he raised him arm out towards the fire. 

"ICE!" As soon as Palom finished saying the word a blue streak shot out of his rod and headed towards the fire. As the streak got closer, it turned into an ice block and with magical powers flowing through it. The fire started to go out and after a few seconds, it was out. 

"Too easy!" Palom threw his fist up into the air but Porom walked over to him and hit him hard on the head. 

"Palom! The Elder taught us not to submit to arrogance." Porom turned away from her brother and looked over at Cecil. "Please Forgive him for his antics." 

Cecil just looked at the girl and gave her a nod. Cecil then motioned for them to start heading up the mountain. 

~

As Golbez opened his eyes and returned back to the Tower of Zot, where his headquarters had been since he had abandoned Baron after he had acquired all the Red Wings from the King and left everything else in the "King's" care. The Tower of Zot was the most advanced place on the entirety of the Blue Planet. The origin of the tower was unknown to everyone, even Golbez who had known a lot about this small little world. The tower was all metallic and had many weapons that no one on the Blue Planet could've created. 

"Milon, come fourth!" Golbez walked forward a little bit and the air in the room started to get darker as an evil force started to appear in the room. A demon wearing a brown cloak that covered his entire body and even his face was covered. All that could be see were his eyes, which were still hard to see. 

"Milon of Earth at your command." The demon's voice was like a dead man that could hardly breathe and was talking threw clenched teeth but his mouth was opening all the way and was able to breath perfectly fine. 

"Cecil aspires to much. He ascends Mt. Ordeals as we speak. I shall clip his wings now." 

"So he desires to become a Paladin." 

"Dispose of him beforehand. His dark sword should be all but useless against your undead." 

"I shall return with his head shortly." Milon bowed down to Golbez and afterward vanished into the air from where he came. 

"This should be interesting." Golbez started to laugh to himself when a figure walked out from a darken area. The man was Kain, Cecil's former best friend. Kain was wearing all the Mythril armor he had bought from Mythrila. 

"Cecil might still prove a formidable opponent." 

Golbez had been fed up with Kain since his failure to take care of Cecil earlier at Fabul and was in no mood to deal with the Dragoon right now. 

"You dare question my judgement?" 

"No, sire!" 

"Milon is one of the four Fiends of Elements. Rosa will bear witness as well." Golbez turned around and looked back at the girl who was tied up. Rosa had blonde, shoulder length hair that would normally be well done but now because she had been held captive for the past few days, had gone into disarray. Her facial features were very fine and gentle. Her face seemed to curve in the right way in all the right places, which made Rosa a very beautiful face that most men were unable to look away from. 

"Sire, please grant me a second chance! Allow me the task of slaying him, instead of Milon!" 

"Just be grateful I let you live after that blunder." 

Kain just stood there silent bowing his head as he started to back away into the darken area to the right of Rosa. 

"Cecil…" Rosa cried out as she passed out from all the exhaustion of the past few days. 

~

Contru reined his chocobo and looked around. It had been almost too long for him since he had been in this part of the forest. Rog stopped right next to him and looked around as well. They both had a lot of memories in this forest. 

"So we going to stop here then Contru?" 

"Of course not. We still have plenty of time left before the sun goes down. I wanted to go deep into the forest. When we were kids Rog, this was just barely going into the forest." In actuality though, they had gone pretty deep into the forest, but they had grown up, learned almost everything they knew today by going into the forest. They even learned things they didn't think they would learn from the forest. Contru laughed out loud at that thought. 

"What's so funny?" 

"Remember when our fathers found out we were in the forest those three days we were missing? I remember it was hard to sit over the next few days afterward." 

Rog started to laugh too and when he stopped said. "Yeah…we did learn a lot _from _the forest." 

Contru laughed and almost lost his balance on his chocobo. After steadying himself he looked right at Rog. "Well which way should we head?" 

Rog looked out in front of him and realized they had reached the Great Spilt as he and Contru had called it. The path ahead of them spilt into many different directions, seven in total. Rog closed his eyes, turned his chocobo in a circle and stopped the large yellow bird and pointed. Rog opened his eyes and lowered his arm. "That way." 

Contru looked at his friend. "That's how you decided? I could've thought of a more intelligent way of picking the path." 

"You asked me my friend so I gave you an answer, now onward towards adventure." Rog tried to hold back his laughter, but burst out as Contru put his head in his hands who started laughing shortly afterward. 

"Alright, let's get going then." Contru started to head down the path that Rog had pointed down. Even though they had grown up considerably over the years, some things would never change between the two of them. 

~

Cecil, Palom, and Porom had been climbing the mountain for almost half the day now and had barely made it halfway up, Cecil only hopped they could make it to the top by nightfall. Cecil walked a little ahead of the twins and as he went around a corner he saw a figure standing on the mountain looking outward towards the horizon. Cecil thought of drawing his sword but decided to get a little closer. Cecil started to move but as soon as he did a Soul appeared in the air around him. Cecil drew the Death sword and started to slash at it but every time he did the blade went right through the spirit. Cecil backed away and was about ready to call Palom when lighting struck the Soul and it died right there on the spot. Cecil looked at where the spirit had been. Cecil looked right at figure and realized who it was. 

"Tellah!" Cecil returned the sword to its sheath and walked up to the Sage. Tellah's hair was as white as any man's could be as well as his long white beard that went down nearly touching his chest. The old man was wearing a purple robe that covered up his simple white shirt and his purple pants. The Sage leaned on a staff in his right arm that was made of simple oak. The two twins had caught up and stood a little behind Cecil as he went to Tellah. 

"Cecil! What brings you here? Wait, you seek Meteo as well?" 

Porom looked right at Tellah with wide eyes. "Meteo!?" 

"Hey, your Tellah, right!?" Palom interjected from behind Cecil. 

"Palom behave yourself!" Porom shouted at her brother. "You stand before the Great Sage!" Porom came out from behind Cecil and presented herself to Tellah. "It is an honor to meet you, sir. We came here from Mysidia under the orders of our Elder." 

Palom walked up next to Porom and spoke to the Sage as well. "Yeah, we're spying-" Palom stopped talking when his sister hit him hard on the head. Porom gave him and stern look as the young boy rubbed his head where his sister had hit him. 

"Excuse me. As I was saying, we're just serving as guides for Sir Cecil. My name is Porom, and that's-" 

"Palom, Mysidia's most exalted mage! I've heard a lot about you even in my neck of the woods." 

Tellah looked at the two children then put his gaze back upon Cecil. "What noisy brats…Cecil, where are Rydia and Edward?" 

Cecil had expected this question and took a deep breath before beginning. "We were attacked by Leviathan on our way to Baron and Rydia and Edward were lost." 

Tellah had shock on his face but managed to go on. "Why were you on you way to Baron, I thought you had plans to save that women you cared about that had the Desert Fever, uhh, I believe Rosa was her name." 

"Yes. Edward, Rydia, and I got the Sandruby from the Antlion. We returned to Kaipo and used the Sandruby on Rosa and she was cured. Rosa told us of the plan of Baron to take the crystals and so we headed on our way to Fabul to warn them and met up with one of their fighters, named Yang. He joined us on the rest of the way to Fabul. While we were there Baron attacked and took that crystal. We left to head to Baron and that's when Leviathan attacked and Rydia was sent overboard and Yang followed after her. Waves kept hitting the ship so both Edward and I were knocked unconscious and when I woke up I was near Mysidia." 

"What!? Are they dead?" Tellah asked Cecil impatiently. 

"…I'm afraid so and Rosa was captured by Golbez." 

Palom tapped Porom on the shoulder and whispered into her ear. "I'll bet that's his girlfriend." 

"Hush." Porom said to her brother. 

Cecil ignored the two twins and went on. "I thought that you'd headed straight to Baron to confront Golbez." 

Tellah looked down at his feet and looked right at Cecil, Cecil felt like he could stare through the helmet he was wearing. "Against the likes of Golbez, my spells still lack power. So I've traveled here to seek the legendary spell, Meteo. I sense a strong aura on this mountain. I believe it holds some secret." 

"But that spell is much to dangerous! It requires tremendous vitality and for a man of your age…forgive me." Porom bowed her head down sheepishly and backed away a little bit from Tellah. 

"I admit, I am old. But I will make Golbez pay, even if it costs my life!" 

Palom had a look of shock on his face now. "Geez, why are adults so pigheaded?" 

"You don't understand because you're still a kid! Now hush!" Porom said to her brother as he quieted down and backed away from his sister, fearful of another punch. 

"Cecil, you have yet to answer me. Why did you come here?" Tellah looked towards Cecil again with that gaze that pierced his armor. 

"I came here in hops of becoming a Paladin. I cannot defeat Goblez with the dark sword…and I have longed to renounce this hateful thing."

"Who's Golbez?" Palom asked with a dumbfounded look on his face that Cecil had learned was almost always there. 

"Don't you know anything? He's the man controlling Baron." Porom scolded her brother in a harsh manner. 

Tellah looked away towards the horizon again and started speaking again. "Not just an ordinary man, but a powerful sorcerer, brimming with evil." Tellah turned back to Cecil then. "So you've come here to become a Paladin? Then, this mountain must hold some secret, just as I suspected. I shall accompany you." 

Behind his mask Cecil started to smile because he was glad that there was another adult there now but also he trusted Tellah with his life because he knew that his magical power was great. The four of them started to head onward further up the mountain to reach the summit and hopefully find what they were looking for. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 5

After Tellah had joined the group Cecil's spirit had been raised a little bit, until he realized that because of Tellah's age they were being slowed down. It was almost pitch black outside and the small amount of light that the fires Tellah and Palom had made were doing no good in lighting the paths. 

"Okay. I think we need to stop for the night now. It's just to dark to go on." Cecil looked over the area and found an area that should work for the night. "Palom, Porom. Start setting up everything right over there." Cecil motioned with his hand. "I'm going to look ahead really quickly to see hold long it well take tomorrow to reach the summit." 

"No problem, Sir Cecil." Porom headed in the direction Cecil had pointed, dragging her brother behind her. 

"Tellah, come with me." The old man looked over at Cecil and got up off of the rock he was sitting on and followed the Dark Knight. 

Cecil walked a little bit away so the twins would not be able to hear what he was about to say to Tellah. "Tellah, I want to leave the twins here early tomorrow morning. I can tell that there is some sort of presence further on. I don't want to put them in any danger." 

The Sage looked thoughtfully into the flame that was on the sick but then looked towards Cecil. "That would not be a wise move Cecil." 

Cecil had a shocked look on his face, but since he never raised his helmet visor, Tellah could not see it. Cecil regained himself and asked Tellah. "Why should we take them Tellah? They are just children." 

"Cecil, those two children are very powerful, we need them. I might've been a powerful mage when I was younger but I no longer remember most of my spells and over the years my magic power has weaken. The young boy, Palom, is stronger than I am right now and the girl is almost as powerful in white magic as I was when I was younger, and compared to me now, she far surpasses me. We need them more than you think Cecil." 

Cecil looked out towards the horizon and noticed exactly how high they were. Cecil turned back to the eyeless face of Tellah. "I see your point. We really do need them. The Elder was wise to send them with me because if I sense what I think I sense, it's not good." 

"Cecil have you every thought that what you might be sensing is where the power on this mountain is. I sense something too, but not the evil that you seem to sense right now. All I feel is this power of good." 

"You might be right Tellah. I guess I'm just tired. We should get back before those two start to worry." 

Cecil and Tellah walked back to where Cecil wanted them to set up and already found the twins dead asleep. 

"I guess they were more tired than even I thought." Cecil undid his blanket roll and sat down next to it. Once Tellah had fallen asleep Cecil drew his sword and stared into it. The red light it gave off made twisted shadows of everything around him. Cecil didn't know if it was just the light or the evil off of the sword. Cecil broke free of the sword and placed it back in its sheath. Cecil could not wait until he could get rid of it and claim this Holy sword the Elder had said was up on the mountain. Cecil pulled the blanket over him but remained in his armor because he didn't want to be surprised in the middle of the night. 

~

Contru looked into the fire as it cracked and threw some sparks into the air. Rog sat near by whittling down a large piece of wood he had found on the ground. 

"What are you trying to make out of that thing again?" 

Rog held it up and looked at it closely. Then without warning, he threw it into the fire and smiled as it started to burn. 

"I take it that wasn't going so well?" 

"I don't even remember what I wanted to make anymore and I have whittled down one side so far, I couldn't do anything with it." 

Contru chuckled slightly and looked back into the fire. They were in an open area that was in the middle of the forest. There was already a stone ring where the fire was to be placed because many people had gone through here before. Contru through another stick into the fire and saw it catch fire and throw more sparks into the air. 

"Something bothering you Contru?" Rog looked towards is friend, who finally turned his head. 

"Nah…just kind of wondering about all the stuff going on out there. I wish there were some way for us to get news on our little island besides having to wait until everything is over to find out." 

"I know how you feel Contru, but there's not much we can do about it, unless we decided to sail to Mysidia. They have that Devil's Road that connects them to Baron. They must learn about the happenings of the world being linked to a town like Baron." 

"I don't think the Mysidians would keep the Devil's Road open after Baron's attack. It's most likely sealed right now so no soldiers can come through. They may have powerful mages, but not even all the mages in that town could stop Baron's forces." 

Rog just looked at his friend and shrugged it off. "You're probably right." 

Contru stood up and decided to get up and get his stuff all set up for the night. Contru got to his weapon's hold and looked down at them. He had his sword as usual, but he also had his Mythril Knife lying on the ground nearby the sword as well as his bow and a quiver filled with arrows. The bow had been used to get the two of them dinner that night. Contru grabbed his blanket roll and brought it over by the fire. Contru undid the knot and rolled it out and climbed under the blankets. 

Rog saw what Contru was doing and decided to do the same. Contru saw Rog come back and lay down in his blanket. 

"You remember when we were younger and used to just lay outside and look up at the stars?" Rog said muffled by his blankets. 

"Yeah. Do you remember that game we used to play?" Rog started to laugh as soon as Contru had brought it up. They had always tried to make there own constellations with the stars and who could ever make the most would win. Neither one of them had been good at it but it helped pass the time while their fathers had done some of the other stuff out in the woods that they couldn't accompany them. 

Contru stood up and picked up the small bucket of water near the fire and poured it over. Afterward Contru threw some dirt on the fire to help put out the rest of the flames. The two of them talked about the stars until both of them had become to tired to stay awake. 

~

Cecil rolled out of his blanket as the sun started to rise on over the mountaintop. Cecil looked up and noticed how close they were to the top of the mountain. 

__

"Good. We're closer than I ever thought we were." Cecil got out of his blanket and rolled it up very quickly. Cecil grabbed some food out of the bag they had brought with them. Chewing bread and cheese at the same time he walked over to get the twins moving. Cecil got Porom up first and as he walked over to Palom he was getting ready for what he always had to do. 

"Palom. Time to get up." Cecil was preparing to have to fight with the child again but he opened his eyes and started to get ready. Cecil had a shocked look on his face, but his helmet covered the shock. _"Maybe he learned from last time."_ Cecil headed to where Tellah had decided to sleep and found him and ready to go as well. 

"Do you always sleep in this late Cecil?" 

Cecil looked at the Sage and shook his head. "I'm glad you're here, now I don't feel like I'm the only one who knows why the sun rises so early." 

Cecil headed back to where the twins were waiting with Tellah behind him. 

"Shall we get going then?" 

"Yes, Sir Cecil, I think that would be great." Porom almost bowed as she said that. 

"Yeah com'on, let's get going already!" Palom turned around and started down the path. 

"Palom, the path is this way." Cecil pointed in the opposite direction Palom was walking and Cecil started to walk up the correct path. 

Palom's face turned red and he started running after them. "Yeah, I knew that! I was just testing you!" 

Cecil ignored the boy's calls as he started to lead the group. _"Only a few more hours and I'll be rid of this sword."_ Cecil looked towards his sword and back up toward the path. As Cecil went to look back to make sure Palom had caught up he saw Lamia coming up from behind the group. The Lamias were women that had snake like bodies and were just as poisonous as any other snake in the world. Cecil drew his sword on instinct and went running right after it. Cecil lifted the blade above his head and swung down hard into the Lamia's snake like body. The snake-women screamed in pain and flung Cecil away from her using her tail. 

Cecil landed on his feet and held his sword in his prime attacking position. Cecil started to charge after the monster again and just before he reached it a fireball hit the Lamia on the side and Cecil was able to get a clean shot at her head and with one clean swipe, he took it clean off. The Lamia's head bounced on the ground a few times and rolled away as the body fell limp on the ground. Cecil placed the sword in the sheath and turned back to the group as Tellah was lowering his hand. 

"Thanks Tellah." 

"It wasn't me Cecil, it was the boy." 

Cecil looked towards the boy, who had the Fire Rod out now. Palom put the rod back in his robe and looked at Cecil. 

"Hey, I just thought that the old man should save his strength because we don't want him croaking up here." 

Tellah gave the boy a hard look and Porom walked up behind him and bopped him on the head as usual. Cecil started to lead the group onward but keep the sword ready for the draw at any moment, he didn't want to be surprised like that again. 

~

Rog rolled onto his back and looked up at the sky. The light was pouring down, but the large trees that they had chosen to sleep under the night before were doing a good job of covering where he was sleeping. Rog sat up and looked to Contru's blanket. Rog didn't see any sign of Contru at all. Rog got up and threw his cloak around his shoulders because the morning air was still holding the chill from the night before. Rog walked a little distance away from the camp and could hear sounds of a sword hitting something. Rog sneaked around until he could spot where the noise was coming from. When he finally spotted who was making all the noise, he relaxed, but didn't come out of hiding. 

Contru was staring down a tree covered by four of five feet of cloth over the trunk. Contru took a deep breath and started to practice his forms on the tree. 

Rog watched his friend silently. Contru had done this for many years. It had been about twelve years since Contru had been at this tree, training himself. Rog started to remember the whole reason why Contru had taken up the sword and become what he was today. 

Contru had been with his mother one day in forest. Contru had gone with his mom to protect her from the monsters, even though he had only been eight years of age. They had been attacked by a group of Sword Rats and Contru had barely got out of the fray with his life, but his mother had been killed. Rog had found Contru bleeding severely and got his father and Contru's father. They had saved the boy's life with the help of the town doctor. 

Before that day Contru had never even thought of picking up a sword, let alone using it, but that day changed him. Contru had sworn that very day when he had visited him, Contru said that he would never let anyone he cared about be hurt again. When Contru was able to get out of bed, he grabbed a practice sword and started to train so he would never lose anyone again. 

Rog started to learn the sword with him, but as a means to stay close to Contru and make sure he didn't shut himself out entirely to everyone around him. Rog had been worried that Contru wouldn't want to play anymore after that event, but being there with Contru helped him make sure he had a childhood still. Rog didn't want to see his friend have to become an adult right there on the spot after the whole ordeal. 

Rog came back to reality and noticed that Contru was just standing there again, leaning against his sword. Rog decided to come out from where he was to see how Contru was doing. 

"So have you had fun training yourself?" 

Contru turned around with sword pointing right in the direction of Rog. After Contru realized who it was though, he lowered the sword. "Sorry about that Rog. What did you say, I wasn't paying attention?" 

"I asked if you had fun training yourself?" Rog looked right at Contru in the eyes but when he had pointed that sword at him, there was a look in Contru's eyes that he had not seen there since…since his mother was killed. 

"Oh yes I did. It's always good to get some exercise early in the morning. You want to go a round?" 

Rog thought for a moment and dropped his cloak on the ground. "Sure, but I'll need to get my sword first." Rog turned back towards where the camp was and grabbed his sword and returned to where Contru was. 

"Okay Contru, slow at first okay? I just woke up." 

Contru laughed at his friend and nodded his head in agreement. "I understand. I don't want you getting injured." The two of them started up their warm up and then after a few minutes, went into the spar. 

~

Cecil and his group had finally reached the summit of Mt. Ordeals. Cecil looked around and saw what could possible be the shine that was giving off the energy that Tellah was feeling. 

"That must be it Tellah." Cecil pointed toward the building on a ledge that was only reachable by going across a small, narrow, stone bridge. 

"Yes. I can feel the power even greater now. That has to be the place." Cecil nodded his head in agreement and started onward. After only taking a few steps he heard a strange sound. 

__

"Bshrr…" Cecil stopped and drew his sword. He could not tell where the noise was coming from, but Porom had a different idea. 

"Palom, stop it!" 

Palom looked right at his sister and started to defend himself. "What!? I didn't do anything!" 

Cecil dismissed the children and continued onward. After going about twenty feet he heard the noise again. 

__

"Bshrr…" Porom rounded on her brother immediately. 

"Palom!" 

"It wasn't me!" 

Cecil walked forward and went up the last little slope that went to the bridge. Cecil stopped in front of the bridge and heard the noise even louder than the other two times. 

__

"BSHRRR…" 

Tellah raised his staff up from a walking stick and took a defensive position. "I sense evil nearby." 

Cecil backed up a little bit from the bridge and took up his own position in front of Palom, Porom, and Tellah. The two twins also had their weapons ready, Palom choosing to use the Fire Rod. 

"I will enjoy killing you all." A disembody voice said, seemingly coming from the air around them. 

"Who's there!? Show yourself!" Cecil shouted at no one but the air itself, but he knew that Tellah was right about that evil presence. 

In front of them the air seemed to start taking shape and after a few seconds a figure in a brown cloak that covered his entire body appeared with four Ghasts, zombies, around him. 

"Under Master Golbez's orders, I, Milon of Earth, will deliver you to the gates of hell, but first…my undead hunger for your flesh!" With a wave of his hand the four Ghasts started to head after the group. Cecil charged forward himself, but when he sliced at the first zombie, it had no affect at all. 

"My sword is useless against these zombies. Tellah, Palom; take care of them." Cecil dodged an attack of one of the zombies as Tellah hurled a fireball at it. The zombie caught fire, but kept walking towards Porom. Cecil knew he could do nothing to stop it, but he knew what he could attack, Milon himself. 

Cecil turned and went running after Milon. Milon saw him coming and tried throwing a fireball at Cecil, who was able to dodge it with ease. Cecil sliced upward and caught Milon on his arm. The man grabbed his arm and let out a howl of pain. 

"How dare you attack me! You will pay for that!" Milon flung a fireball at Cecil, but because he was so close, he wasn't able to avoid it. Cecil went flying backwards onto his back, but as he landed he could feel his body being healed and just sprang right back up. Either Porom or Tellah had healed him; he didn't care right now. All he wanted to do was take care of Milon. Cecil went charging again after Milon. 

Milon went to defend himself, but was hit by a bolt of lightning followed by a fireball hitting him hard. Cecil jumped into the air and slashed downward, cutting Milon hard right down the front of his body. 

Milon stumbled backward and went down to one knee; at least Cecil thought it was a knee he went down on. "What's happening to me!?" Milon then started to vanish and before Cecil could slash at him again, he was gone. Cecil immediately looked around seeing if he could find where the demon had gone, but found no trace of him. 

Cecil started to head over the bridge with extreme caution. The bridge was even narrower than he thought it was. He got across it, then Tellah followed. The twins then went over one right after the other, until they were all across. Cecil waited until they were all in front of him when he heard Milon's voice again. 

"Bshrrr…Fouls, my true strength lies in death! Join me in hell!" Cecil turned around and was totally shocked at what he saw. 

Milon's head looked almost like a skull with loose, straggly hair that was very greasy. Milon's body had four large bones sticking out in front of him and it made it seem like he had no arms. Milon's body itself looked like it was just made of fat and of nothing more than that. His veins were bulging outside of his fat and little amount of muscle that he had also on the outside, he looked inside out. 

"This is my true form. Die!" Milon charged right after Cecil, who raised his sword, but took the blow full force. Cecil flew backwards and landed in front of Tellah as he threw a fireball at the beast. Cecil got up and went after Milon. 

Milon was trying to go after the twins but Cecil put a deep gash into Milon's back, but it almost seemed to absorb the damage, as the fat seemed to cover up the wound. Milon rounded on Cecil but missed as he had jumped out of the way. Cecil was blocking the blows Milon was trying to hit him with, when Cecil found an opening. Cecil slashed the sword sideways and cut Milon right across his midsection. Cecil then rolled to the side of Milon and rolled again as Milon attacked him again. Cecil got up and ran right into Milon. Milon staggered back and Cecil got in a quick upward slash as he jumped away. Then as Cecil was about to go after Milon again when he heard Palom and Porom. 

"Pyro!" The twins yelled in unison as Milon was engulfed by fire. The demon kept backing up until he was near the end of the cliff. Tellah fired an Ice spell at Milon and put the fires out. It didn't matter though; the demon was a good as dead. 

"H-How could I possibly lose to…? See you in hell!" Milon then fell backwards and headed straight to his death. 

Cecil dropped to his knee as his fatigue finally set in. Porom walked over to him and laid a hand on his back. Cecil could feel most of the tiredness drain away, but he knew that she couldn't get rid of all of it. 

"Thanks Porom." Cecil stood up and looked right at the shrine. Cecil walked right up to where he thought the entrance might be, but he didn't see one. 

"My son…" Cecil drew back a little bit from the shine and looked around. It must directed to him. 

"Son…?" Cecil walked closer and the rest of them followed. As soon as Cecil was close enough to touch it, a bright light emanated from it and the whole world turned white. 

~

Cecil opened up his eyes and found that he was inside the shrine. Cecil looked around and saw that the rest of the group was with him too. The room had two pillars in the middle of the room about ten feet apart which Cecil thought was used to hold the ceiling up. The wall in front of him was a solid mirror, which showed the wall behind him was just plan rock, from what he could see. Cecil noticed that there didn't appear to be a door anywhere. Cecil just dismissed the whole thing because he knew there had to be a way out. Cecil walked forward to the mirror until he was only inches away from it. 

"Through much sorrow have a longed for your coming. I shall now entrust you with my power. By doing so, my pain will only grow. But there is no other way." Cecil looked up and saw a sword start to be lowered from the ceiling. Cecil grabbed hold of it and could start to feel the holy power course through him. 

A bright white light appeared around Cecil and as soon as it had come, it was gone. Cecil was holding the Holy sword in his right hand, but was no longer wearing any of his old Dark Knight armor. Cecil was wearing simple traveling clothes now. Cecil's face was a pale, yet very healthy color. His hair was as white as a fresh snow and was around shoulder length. 

Cecil backed away from the mirror and looked at himself. _"I've done it. I'm free of the darkness!"_ The voice, seeming to read his mind, then said. 

"Break from your past and over your darkness. Only then will you receive the holy power." 

Cecil then looked towards the mirror again and saw that the reflection still showed the Dark Knight. The Dark Knight behind the mirror drew his sword and walked through it and walked right up to Cecil's face. 

Tellah had an astonished look on his face while the Twins almost lost it. 

"What's going on!?" Palom stated when he could finally talk again. 

"There are two of them!" Porom said to her brother 

"Cecil!" Tellah said with worry on his voice. 

"Geez!" Palom started to walk forward to help Cecil, but he threw his arms back towards the group. 

"Stay back! This is my battle, to atone for my wrongs." Cecil then started to walk forward and pushed the image back into the mirror, but that didn't stop it. The Dark Knight slashed through the mirror at Cecil, who blocked it with his sword. Cecil tried to slash at the Knight but his sword only bounced off the mirror and sent him backwards. 

The voice appeared again and started talking to Cecil again. "Some fight for law, some fight for justice. Cecil…what will you fight for?" 

Cecil parried another attack by the Dark Knight. Cecil had no idea what to do because each time he tried to attack the Knight; his sword just hit the mirror and didn't hit the Knight at all. Cecil then realized what the voice meant. Cecil then lowered his sword and took a blow right to his chest. Cecil fell down to a knee and took another blow to his back. Cecil then stood up and looked at the Dark Knight where his eyes would be and just waited there. The Dark Knight raised his sword and slashed down causing a huge cut down his chest. The Dark Knight then sheathed his sword and just stood there. 

The voice appeared again and started talking to Cecil again. "Some fight for law, some fight for justice. Cecil…what will you fight for?" 

"Well done. Now receive my spirit of light, and remember: Golbez must be stopped. Farewell, my son." 

"Please, wait!" As Cecil finished his sentence the room started to flash many different colors until it flashed white, and as it dimmed, Cecil could feel a power surging through him that he had never had before, but somehow he recognized it. Cecil could feel all of his wounds heal on his body and all the strength that he had used up during the past few fights, return to him. 

Porom came running up along side of him and looked over him. "Are you alright?" 

"Dude, look at you! High five!" Palom said as he walked up to the other side of the Paladin. 

"Palom!" Porom yelled at her brother for his rudeness. 

"This feeling…I can't explain it. It seems so…so familiar." Cecil then looked at the mirror, which was now cloudy and gave no reflection. "What was that voice?" 

Oh…oh, YES!" 

The three of them turned around to Tellah who was still standing in the corner he had been since the fight had ended. 

"Master Tellah?" Porom asked the old Sage. 

Tellah looked up at them with a delighted look on his face. "My spells! I remember them now!!" Tellah then looked down at his hands and started to shake. "Me…Meteo? That light! Somehow it broke the seal upon Meteo!" 

"My goodness." Porom said with a worrying expression growing on her face. 

"Hey Porom…" Palom said to his sister with a guilt look on his face. Porom walked over to her brother and they talked very quickly and both of them came back to Cecil. 

"Umm…" Porom began but trailed off very quickly, obviously looking for the right words. 

Palom then picked up where his sister had left off. "To tell you the truth, we--"

"Golbez is doomed!!" Tellah then began to laugh but then stopped quickly. "Come Cecil!! To Baron!" 

Cecil just stood there silently looking around as Tellah walked out the door that had appeared in the shrine. "I still don't understand, that light…It called me 'my son'…And why did it mention Golbez?" 

Palom looked at Cecil but then looked towards Tellah who hadn't stopped walking yet. "Hey, wait up!" Palom then followed Tellah out of the shrine. 

Cecil just stood there looking around at the room and Porom came up to him. "Are you ready to go?" 

Cecil broke out of his thoughts and looked down at the little girl. "…Yeah." Cecil started to follow the girl out the door, but then turned around for one last look at the shrine and walked out of the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 6

The trip back to Mysidia was a very easy one because Tellah had shown the group where a Chocobo Forest was and they each caught a chocobo and rode them back into town. 

As soon as Cecil jumped down from his chocobo it went running, along with the others that Palom, Porom, and Tellah had rode on. Cecil looked in towards the town and looked back at his group. 

"The last time I was here, I was almost killed until the Elder saved me. I hope it's not going to be the same thing this time around." Cecil looked back at his new sword and pulled it out. Cecil then noticed that it glowed with a whitish color, just like the Death sword had, except for the different color. 

Cecil sheathed the sword again and looked back into the town. "Well only one way to find out. 

Cecil walked right through the town gates. The mages looked at him, but did nothing to stop him or chase after him. 

__

"So far so good." Thought Cecil. He finally was able to take a good look at the town. 

The weapon and armor shops were located right near the entrance to the city on the right side of the path. Mysidia had no paved streets because the mages of the town were simple people. The Inn for the town was across the main path from the entrance and right next to that on the right was Item shop. Cecil kept walking down the path towards the House of Prayer, which was all the way in the back of the town. Cecil noticed the small little pool that was feed through a small little canal that went from the ocean. 

Cecil wondered why they brought in salt water from the ocean to the town; it couldn't possibly be doing anything good? Cecil got his mind off of such trivial matters as he walked up the stairs that lead into the House of Prayer. Cecil walked through the open doors that lead into the main hall and saw that the Elder was standing in the hall with a Black and a White mage. 

The Elder looked at the new people coming in and realized who was walking in. "Unbelievable! You've succeeded!" 

Cecil stopped in front of the Elder and Palom and Porom each came up to his sides, Tellah stayed behind the threesome. 

"Sir Cecil fought brilliantly." Porom said to the Elder who was still wearing a look of shock on his face. 

"I'll say. He passed with flying colors." Palom added to what his sister had said. 

Cecil looked down at the twins and then up to the Elder. "What?" 

The Elder broke from his shock and looked at Cecil with a level look. "Forgive me. I assigned them to spy on you. As it turned out, there was no need for it. Palom, Porom, good work." 

Cecil looked down to the twins and couldn't believe this, he had trusted these two so much by the end of the journey and now they seemed so different. 

Palom looked up at Cecil with his usual expression of mischief. "Hey, no hard feelings, alright?" 

Porom looked up to Cecil as well and bowed her head down. "I'm sorry." 

Cecil started to think about it and addressed them all. "It's okay. You did the right thing, considering all I've done." 

The Elder nodded his head in agreement. "But now, you are a paladin and…" The Elder was looking at the sword at Cecil's side. "That sword! Where did you get?" 

Cecil looked down at it and pulled it out and the soft white light filled the dim room slightly. "On Mt. Ordeals." Cecil held out the sword and the Elder grabbed the sword and was looking at something on it. 

"The inscription on this sword notes a passage from Mysidian Legend." 

Cecil looked back at the sword as the Elder handed it back to him. "Legend?" 

The Elder looked at Cecil and started to say the passage: 

"One born of a dragon, 

bearing darkness and light, 

shall rise to the heavens

over the still land. 

bathing the moon in eternal

light, he brings a promise

to Mother Earth with

bounty and grace." 

When the Elder finished with the passage Cecil looked to the Elder. "The light at Ordeals called me "son." What was that light?" 

The Elder shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, nor do I know what the Legend means. But we Mysidians, for generations, are told to pray for the fulfillment of this legend and to believe in the one with the sacred light. And I believe you just might be that one." 

Cecil just stood there without saying a word, but Tellah had had enough of all this and came out from behind Cecil and the twins. 

"Enough talk! We must go defeat Golbez!" 

The Elder looked up from the ground and looked right at the old sage. "Tellah?" 

Tellah just stood there with a smug look on his face. "It's been a while." 

Porom could feel the tension between the two wise men and interjected. "We met him on Mt. Ordeals." 

"And guess what? The old man learned Meteo." Palom said from the side trying to impress the Elder. 

"What!? Meteo, the legendary spell, unsealed?" The Elder started to shake his head and had a worried look on his face. "What is happening to this world…?" 

Tellah looked at the Elder and rage started to boil inside of him. "I couldn't care less as long as I avenge Anna!" 

"Your daughter Anna?" The Elder asked Tellah. 

"Golbez took her life. I swear I'll crush him with my Meteo!" The color in Tellah's face started to darken because he was so angry. 

"Tellah you should not fight with hatred. Besides, you are in no condition to use Meteo." 

"If I die, so be it! I will kill Golbez at any cost!" Tellah clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles started to turn white. 

"…Still stubborn as a mule, I see." The Elder fired at Tellah, trying to knock some sense back into the old man. 

"And you still have a big mouth!" Tellah yelled right back at the Elder. 

The Elder was about to say something but stopped himself, calmed down a little bit, and finally said. "Nevertheless, with your spells and Cecil's newfound power, you might be able to defeat Golbez." 

Cecil, who was glad the verbal war had ceased, nodded. "In any case, we must return to Baron to commander an airship first." 

The Elder nodded his agreement. "Very well. I will have the Devil's Road opened. As a Paladin, I am certain you can safely travel the bedeviled path. Well, I will retire to the Tower of Worship now. Cecil, Tellah, I pray for your success." 

"Thank you." Cecil turned and motioned to Tellah, and they started to head out. Just as Cecil and Tellah were about to reach the door, Palom and Porom walked in front of them and stopped them from going any farther. 

The Elder noticed this and walked a little closer to the group. "Palom, Porom, return to your studies." 

Porom looked around Cecil to the Elder. "Elder, please allow us to accompany him." 

"You're the one who told us to help him." Palom said to the Elder even though he couldn't see over Tellah. 

The Elder thought for a moment. "…You have both overcome the trials of Ordeals to return alive. Perhaps this is your fate. Please look after them." 

Porom looked around Cecil to the Elder. "Elder, please allow us to accompany him." 

"You're the one who told us to help him." Palom said to the Elder even though he couldn't see over Tellah. 

The Elder thought for a moment. "…You have both overcome the trials of Ordeals to return alive. Perhaps this is your fate. Please look after them." 

Cecil's jaw dropped and he turned around. "But…" 

"Hey, you got a problem?" Palom said to the Paladin as Cecil turned around again. 

"I'm sure we can still be of assistance." Porom said to Cecil as well. 

Tellah blew out his mustache, but nodded his head. "They're annoying runts, but we could use their help." 

Cecil looked down at his feet and just shrugged his shoulders. "Alright. I'm counting on you all." 

Palom jumped up in the air and started to shout. "Yeaaah, baby!" 

"Palom, this is not some picnic." Porom said to her brother in her usual lecturing tone. 

The Elder looked at Palom with an almost angry look, but turned his attention to Cecil. "The entrance to the Devil's Road lies on the east side of town. Palom, Porom, train well and return safely. Good luck to you all." 

Cecil started to leave with his group, but as stopped as the Elder called. "Cecil, hold up one moment. I have a gift for you." Cecil turned around and saw a few mages carrying some armor. 

"What is this?" 

"This is some armor a former knight wore when he came here. He was much like a Paladin so I believe that his armor would suit you well and you are also around the same size as he was." 

Cecil looked down at the armor and noticed it was all white. Cecil reached down and started to put on the chest plate when the mages came up and started to help him. 

In a few minutes Cecil had all the armor on that he wanted. 

"What about the helmet?" Asked the Elder when Cecil left it on the ground. 

"I don't need it. I no longer need to hide who I am." Cecil replied as he turned and started to walk out of the door. 

Cecil was wearing the chest plate, the leg greaves and the arm protection. The armor felt heavy on Cecil because he had traveled a while without any armor, but he knew that he would need the armor during his fight. Cecil stopped and pulled out his sword and looked at it. Everyone around him stopped and Tellah was the first to talk. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Well I think I know what I can call this sword now." 

"What's that?" Palom asked. 

"Legend." Cecil simply said and placed the sword back into the sheath and turned towards the direction that the Devil's Road was in. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 7

Cecil walked up to the building that the Elder had said the road was in. The building wasn't marked with anything and was hidden behind the Inn and Item shop. 

"Well looks like no one really cares about this building at all." The building wasn't run down, but it seemed that the mages wanted to pretend this building didn't exist. 

"Cecil do you think we should wait until morning?" Porom asked Cecil. 

Cecil looked up at the sky and realized that it was mid afternoon. "No, I want to get to Baron as soon as possible and with taking the Devil's Road we should be able to get to the town by night fall…Least I hope." 

Cecil opened the door and saw the portal tat lead down to the Devil's Road. The room was filled with a green light that portal pad produced. Cecil looked at his friends and they all started towards it. 

"You guys all ready?" Cecil asked them. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and they all stepped on the portal and were taken into the Devil's Road. 

~

Contru raised his bow up and aimed it towards the animal that was in front of him. It was a simple Sword Rat, but the joy of getting this close to it and not being heard was enough for him. Contru let go of the arrow that had been notched in the bow and it killed the Sword Rat upon contact. 

Contru got up from his position and grabbed the dead animal. "Well it'll be a different dinner to say the least." Contru pulled the arrow out of its body, cleaned the tip, and placed it back in his quiver on his back. Contru then started back towards the campsite. 

Contru had gone out get some food because the food they had brought with them had run out and they weren't ready to go back into town yet. They were enjoying themselves and didn't want to be burdened with anything just yet. 

Contru continued back down the path and noticed a small little side path. Contru stopped and looked right at it. 

__

"I haven't been here for a long time." Contru thought as he looked down the path. Contru then decided that he had to go down it. 

The path was short and lined with many beautiful flowers that were found all over the island. The path then opened up to a small little open area with one thing in the middle, a grave stone. 

The name on it was the name of Contru's mother, who had died right here twelve years ago. Contru lowered the Sword Rat to the ground and also put down his bow and arrows at the entrance to the small little grove; he didn't believe in bringing any weapons into a graveyard. 

"Hello Mom." Contru said aloud, knowing that he must be sounding crazy right now, but he didn't care. Guilt was on his mind right now because all his life since the funeral that was held here shortly after her death, he had been afraid to come here. 

Contru was about to say something else when he heard some rustling in the bushes to the left of him. Contru turned and was about to attack whatever it was, but it was only Rog. 

"Sorry about that Contru. I came here to pay my respects to your mother, I didn't mean to hide when I heard you coming, I just wanted to give you some time alone." 

Contru looked at his friend of many years and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I just feel really guilty because I haven't come here since the funeral and I'm the reason why she died right here all those years ago." Contru lowered his head and kicked at the ground. 

"Contru, it's not your fault, you were eight years old when it happened! You had no idea what was going to happen that day. I'm sure that your mother doesn't blame you for what happened! Contru, you have been down for the past few days and I think I know why. Your thinking about your mother now with all this Crystal stuff going on, am I right?" 

Contru looked up at Rog, but quickly avoided his gaze. "You always could read me so well. The whole thing with the Crystals got me thinking about problems that I've had in my life, this being the biggest one." Contru motioned toward the grave. "I juts keep thinking if there is something I can do about it." 

Rog didn't show anything, but Contru knew he was surprised. 

"I know that I was getting on your case about you worrying about it, but I was just as worried. I was trying to dismiss it as rumor but now I don't think it is." 

"Well we haven't been in the loop ever in our small town, the only thing we know is what we heard from Mysidia, that's it." 

"No we do a little bit more." 

Rog's jaw dropped. "When we you planning on telling me?" Rog looked right at Contru waiting for an answer, but didn't get anything. "What else do you know?" 

"I'm meant to tell you awhile ago but it slipped my mind. While we were gone the Red Wings came to Mythrila and a knight, a Dragoon, came into the town to buy some mythril armor." 

"Did they hurt anyone?" 

"No. The Dragoon paid in full for all that he bought and left. It seems that who ever he was working for wanted him to have the best armor available. I know it's not much but it does seem to go with what we heard at Mysidia. I just hope that someone is out there trying to deal with these people who are trying to take the Crystals." Contru looked right a Rog and then they both heard a grumbling sound. 

Rog looked his friend up and down and started to laugh. "Maybe we should get back to camp so we can stop that monster in your stomach." 

Contru just blushed slightly and nodded his head. "Yeah, that's the best idea I've heard all day." Rog left first and grabbed the Sword Rat as Contru was picking up all of his things that he had left on the ground. He turned around to his mother's grave and walked up to it and bowed his head down. 

"I'm sorry for not coming sooner mother but I had been afraid but now I see that I was just being childish. I hope where ever you are that you are happy." Contru turned back around and grabbed his stuff and quickly caught up to Rog for the walk back to camp. 

~

Cecil and the group came out of the Devil's Road and saw only walls around them. 

"We made it. We're in Baron!" 

"How do you know Cecil?" Tellah asked as he readjusted his robe. 

Cecil was up against one of the walls trying to find something, it seemed. "The building that houses the Devil's Road in Baron has a wall around where the portal is with a guard to keep watch. All I have to do is find the switch," Cecil then pushed in a block and part of the wall started to open up. "and we're out." Cecil was the first to walk out of the small little enclosure and expected to see a guard out there, but found none at all. 

"That's odd." Cecil said as the rest of the group and came out and he shut the door. 

"What? There's no guard. So what?" Tellah said to the Paladin. 

"Baron has always had a guard here, for fear of someone going into the road on accident. I wonder what's going on." 

Cecil walked out of the door that led outside and found that his guess about the time difference was correct. It was night and the moon was high in the sky. The rest of the group walked out and the twins grabbed their bodies. 

"It's cold out here." Porom said as she started to shiver. Cecil looked down at the girl and felt a bit sorry for her. 

"We'll go to the Inn shortly but I want to check on something first." Cecil looked to his right and found a staircase that led upward. Cecil quickly went up the stairs and to the house that was up there. Cecil waited until the rest of the group was with him, and then knocked on the door. 

The door cracked opened a little bit and a red haired woman was on the other side. She looked at the person at the door and her eyes grew wide. "Cecil!?" 

Cecil only nodded his head and the woman opened the door and let everybody in. The girl was wearing a simple yellow dress and her hair was pulled back with a yellow ribbon into a ponytail. 

"Cecil, you're alive!" The girl said when the door was shut. 

"June, sorry to disturb you this late at night but I need to ask you something." Cecil said to the girl. "Where are my manners. June this is Tellah, a Sage from Mysidia and the two kids are Palom, the boy, and Porom, the girl. The children are Black and White Mages, respectively." 

"Nice to met all you. I'm June, daughter of the airship engineer Cid." June bowed to all of them and turned back to Cecil. "Cecil, have you seen my father?" 

"June, I was about to ask you the same question. I haven't seen him since I left Baron on the journey to the Village of Mist. Where is he?" 

June shook her head. "He hasn't returned from the castle for the longest time! I've been so worried!" June almost started to cry but Cecil put his arm around her and comforted her a little bit. 

"Don't worry June, I'll save him now that I know where he is. The question is, how do I get into the castle." 

June looked up at Cecil with tears falling down her face. "Cecil I wouldn't try to go in there at night. Wait until tomorrow morning, then we can figure out a way in. You can stay here the night." 

"No June. I don't want to put you in any danger but I will take the first part of your advice and wait till morning, but we'll go to the Inn and stay there the night. I think we have enough money to stay one night. Take care June." Cecil then turned and motioned for everyone to go out the door. 

June gave Cecil a worried look but his smile that he gave her calmed her down a little bit and she smiled back and nodded. Cecil closed the door behind him and found everyone waiting for him. 

Cecil started down the stairs quickly and headed for the exit of the town. After Cecil got around a building he turned left and walked in; the building he went around was the town Inn. 

Cecil got inside and the rest of the group soon came in after him. Cecil went up to the innkeeper who was just sitting behind his desk. 

"Hi, how can I help you?" The innkeeper asked when Cecil got close enough. 

"How many rooms do you have left for the night?" 

"We have one room left, is that alright sir?" 

"Yes that'll be fine. Reserve the room please and I'll pay for it when I get back from the tavern." 

"No problem, sir." 

Cecil came to the group who was waiting by the door still. "I got the very last room, so it looks like the four of us will have to share the room. I can easily get the innkeeper to bring in some cots or something, now I'm hungry so let's get something to eat." Cecil walked down a narrow pathway that was to the right of the innkeeper's desk. After a very short walk Cecil turned around a corner and saw the tavern. Cecil walked down the path until he was finally in it and he looked around really quickly. 

Cecil then noticed that Yang was sitting at a table with two of Baron's soldiers. Cecil walked up to Yang and confirmed it was he. 

"Yang!" Cecil cried as he walked up to the monk. 

All that Yang did was look at Cecil with a look of unknown. 

"It's me, Cecil!" Cecil said with an exasperated expression on his face. 

Yang's eyes then changed as he looked at him. "Cecil…Baron's knight turned traitor." Yang's voice was a mixture of ice and anger. Then Yang sprang up and pointed right at Cecil. "Seize him!" 

The soldiers then stood up and drew their swords. "Yes, sir!" The soldiers then came charging after Cecil. 

Cecil jumped back and at the same time drew his sword to deflect the first attack of one of the soldiers. Before that soldier could regain his composure, Cecil put his blade deep into the weak spot the guard had on him, right at the base of his neck. 

Cecil pulled his sword out quickly as the soldier fell to the ground, dead. Cecil stopped the attack of the other soldier. Cecil kicked the soldier back into the table and brought his sword up and cut the throat of the second soldier. 

Cecil turned to Yang then and placed his sword back into its sheath. "Yang! What's wrong!?" 

Yang went into his fighting stance and just stared down the Paladin. "You insolent wretch!" With that, the monk charged after his former friend. Cecil dodged out of the way and attempted to get his sword out, to at least help block the man's attacks. 

"Die!" Yang said as he tried to attack Cecil again. Cecil then noticed that the rest of the group was coming to help him. Palom was about to hit the monk from behind when Yang's leg shot out from under him and hit the boy hard in the chest. Cecil kept composed and went after the monk but when he went to club Yang with the hilt of his sword, the monk jumped up and started to come down with his feet forward. 

"Kiai" Yelled Yang as Cecil dodged the attack and Yang went through a table. While Yang was getting back up though, Tellah came up from behind and hit the monk hard over the head with his staff. Yang turned around and was getting ready to attack Tellah, but Cecil got up quickly and hit Yang on the head with the hilt of his sword. 

Yang started to stumble around and soon fell flat on his face. Cecil leaned against the wall and put his sword back into its sheath. _"I'm glad I never had to fight him before now."_ Thought Cecil as he looked at his group. 

Tellah was fine, even though he had come really close to losing his head. Porom was already tending to her brother who was holding his chest. 

"Ugh…" Yang then started to stir on the ground but when he got up, he looked around and appeared to be very confused. He spotted Cecil and stood up. "Cecil! What just happened? After Leviathan attacked us...I cannot remember anything." 

Tellah looked right at Yang with a frown on his face. "Obviously, you suffered a slight case of amnesia and were being used by Baron." 

Cecil frowned at Tellah and turned his attention back to Yang. "Do you know what happened to Rydia and Edward?" 

Yang, who was looking at the floor, looked up at Cecil and shook his head. "Rydia was swallowed by Leviathan. I don't know what happened to Edward." 

"I see." Cecil looked down at the ground and started to clench his fists. 

Yang was looking around and finally decided to ask. "Where are we?" 

Cecil broke from his anger and looked at Yang. "Baron. Let's go to the room I got earlier so we can discuss everything." 

Cecil walked back around to the front of the Inn and went to pull out his money. 

"No charge. You helped by taking care of those troops. Have the room for free tonight." 

"Thank you very much, do you think we could get a couple cots for our room as well for the rest of my friends?" 

"No problem, sir. They'll be brought to your room shortly." 

"Thank you." Cecil got the key and went to where his room was in out of the five rooms the Inn had. Cecil walked in and left the door open and in a few minutes three cots were brought in a set up. Cecil shut the door and locked it. 

Cecil turned back and realized that not everyone knew each other. "Yang, this is Tellah. His daughter and Edward--" 

"My daughter loved him enough to sacrifice her life for him." Tellah interrupted Cecil. 

Yang lowered his head in respect. "I am sorry for your loss. I am Yang, of Fabul." 

Palom, who had gone right into a bed as soon as he walked into the room decided to put his thoughts in. "Ahem! I am Palom of Mysidia…" The young boy then started to laugh to himself. "Pretty good impersonation, huh?" Yang just looked at the boy without expression. 

Porom shook her head at the actions of her brother and curtsied to Yang. "Please don't mind him I'm his twin sister, Porom." 

"Hey, that kick really hurt! How could you let them play you like that?" Palom said from his bed. 

Porom lost her anger for the first time since Cecil had met the twins. "Palom! Apologize!" 

"No, he is right. Forgive my actions." Yang lowered his head again and stared at the floor. 

Cecil decided to break the tension and talk about what they needed to do. "Well, first things first. We have to find Cid." 

Tellah nodded his head and spoke to the group. "Sneaking into the castle won't be easy." 

Yang started to nod his head and looked down at his belt. "Hm? What is this?" 

Cecil got up and took the key that Yang was now holding in his hand. "This is the Baron Key! Of course! They must've given it to you when they gave you command of those guards. With this key, I believe we'll be able to find Cid." 

"How will that key help us, Cecil?" Tellah asked Cecil. 

"This key opens the path to the Waterway. We can use it to sneak into the castle that the guards won't be guarding at all. It'll be an easy way in, and if trouble comes up, an easy way out." 

Tellah now understood and with the plan already to go, they all got some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a difficult day. 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

A/N: First I want to apologize for the long delay, computer decided to be stupid and not work well so now I have a new computer so I should be good form now on. Second, I would like to thank everyone who has given me reviews and for all your advice. Hope you all enjoy this story and please keep up the reviews guys. Oh btw, I decided to take some liberties in the story now with Cecil and gang. 

Chapter 8

The whole group woke up early that day, except for Palom of course. Cecil grabbed some food out of the Tavern and returned with it ton their room. Everyone ate in silence, as they all knew that this could lead them all to death and that some, or none of them would return alive. 

Cecil arose from his chair and put his food tray, now empty, on the table in the center of the room. 

"Let's get going. I want to be in the Waterways before it gets to bright outside and everyone can see what we're doing." 

Tellah and Yang nodded in agreement and put their trays next to Cecil's. Porom got up and put hers there as well, but Palom just sat there with his eyes closed. 

Cecil rolled his eyes and turned to Porom. "You would think the kid could stay awake even while eating." Cecil walked over to the young boy and took his tray from him and picked him up. 

Palom woke up immediately after being picked up and started to struggle against Cecil's strength. "Hey man! Put me down! If you don't out me down right now, I'll-!"

Cecil put his hand over Palom's mouth and put him on the ground, still covering his mouth. 

"Palom, you have to be quiet, okay? I don't want the whole Inn knowing we're up this early." Cecil took his hand off of Palom's mouth after he finished talking to him, Palom didn't say another word. 

Cecil looked to everyone and then turned to start to get all of his stuff on. As he did this, the rest also got their things together. Cecil grabbed his chest plate first and got that on first because he knew it was the hardest thing to get on. After that was all secure he put on the greaves, which just slide onto his legs. Then Cecil grabbed his arm guards and put those on and secured them onto his chest plate. 

When Cecil was finished he turned around to see all of his friends waiting for him. "Sorry about that." Cecil grabbed his sword and put it around his waist and then led the group out of the room and then outside. 

As soon as they walked outside, they could all feel the chill of the morning air. Cecil noticed that his armor had a light coat of mist. As the wind blew Cecil could feel some goose bumps start to form on his skin. Cecil looked up towards the sky and could see the sun starting to peak it's head through the clouds that were covering the town still after the late night rain that had started after midnight. Cecil looked at the ground and kicked around a little water that was accumulated on the ground. Cecil signaled to the group to follow him and they did. Cecil took a quick pace to the building. When Cecil reached the door he pulled out the key and unlocked the door. Cecil then took the key out of the lock and started to push on the door. The door didn't budge at all. 

"Hey Yang, can you give me a hand here?" 

"No problem Cecil." Yang came up alongside of Cecil and they both started to push. After a little bit the door moved a very little bit and then as they put a little more force into it, the door flew open and hit the wall that was along side of it. 

Cecil had everybody go inside of the building and was able to close the door himself. Cecil then put the lock on again from the inside. Cecil walked up to the entrance of the Waterways themselves and couldn't see anything at all. 

"Palom, Tellah. Can the two of you provide us with light down there if we need it?" 

Tellah just simply nodded his head to Cecil, but Palom went a little farther. 

"No problem bro!" After he said that he made a flame appear in his hand. 

Cecil ignored the boy and started to go down the stairs into the cave. Cecil had his hand against the wall and felt a torch on it and before he could grab it, it was lit. Cecil looked over to Tellah who had nice big smile on his face. 

Cecil picked up the torch and took the lead down the rest of the stairs and then the cave eventually opened up into a large cavern. Cecil couldn't see anything in front of him, but then the light got brighter and he could see more now. Cecil saw the way the path went and lead them forward over a bridge. 

Yang was baffled by all of this and asked Cecil a question. "Cecil, why were the Waterways created?" 

Cecil gave a little chuckle and then answered his question. "It's all in the name. It's the way the water and food and other supplies would get into the castle if there were a siege of the castle. It was built after Baron almost fell to a siege. The only reason I know about them is because the King was like a father to me and knew I would never betray my country." 

Cecil shrugged his shoulders at that and continued on straight at the intersection. 

"Cecil…what are you going to do if you encounter Kain again?" Yang asked soon after they turned down another pathway. 

"I don't know Yang…I know he's in there somewhere, I just need to find him and bring him back." 

"I see. And if he attacks you again?" 

"If you're asking if I will kill him, no I won't. I won't kill my best friend just because he's been brainwashed." 

Cecil stopped and noticed how the path took a few bridges over the water. 

"I will bring him back, I swear." Cecil started going over the bridge when he heard a cracking noise and jumped back. Cecil checked the board and saw it was fine. 

"Cecil, do you think that Golbez is here?" Tellah asked from the back of the group. 

"I don't know. If he is then we will see if our new powers are enough to take him down." Cecil continued to follow the path and went over another bridge. 

"Tellah, I know you want revenge but I really do hope that he isn't here right now because I'm still not ready yet. I don't understand my new power at all yet. I need more time." 

"Don't worry Cecil. If he is here, then my Meteo and I will take care of him." Cecil looked back at Tellah as he continued to walk and could swear that he could see the fire of Tellah's eyes from behind the sunglasses. Cecil nodded to him after that and turned his attention back to the path. Cecil didn't know how to let Tellah know exactly how powerful the wizard was. Cecil had been on the receiving end of Golbez's power once and thought that Tellah had no idea about his power. Cecil was still thinking and didn't even see the ledge that was coming. Cecil would've fallen if Yang hadn't been there to catch him. 

"Thanks Yang." 

"My pleasure Cecil." Cecil looked down and saw it was more stairs that lead into another dark cavern. Cecil lead the way down the stairs and after a brief walk down them found the ground leveled off and a set of stairs leading into the water. 

"Well, looks like we have to get a little wet." Cecil headed down the stairs and into the ankle deep water and lead the way as the rest of them followed closely behind. 

~

Contru and Rog rode back into town with weary bodies after their time they had spent in the forest. Each went to their respective houses as soon as they got back but promised to go to tavern after they had got everything settled. Contru put his chocobo in it's stable and brought all of his stuff into his house. His dad was in the study reading a book when he walked in. 

"You have a good time out there?" 

"Yeah Dad. We definitely needed that because we sure did unwind out there. Very relaxing. You should go out there, with Rog's one time. Trust me, it will help with any problems." 

"No. I'm too old to do that. Sitting at home with a good book is all I need." His dad then put his head back into his book with his glasses on the edge of his nose. 

Contru smiled at his dad, he was weird, but he loved him anyway. Contru dropped all of his things into his room, adding to the large mess that was already on the floor. He then grabbed some news clothes that seemed clean and did a quick change. 

After taking care of the clothing, Contru grabbed a small bag that had some Gil in it and started on his way out. 

"Dad, going to the Tavern, be back later."

"Okay. Make sure you eat something while your there." 

"Alright." Contru shut the door behind him and walked slowly to the Inn. 

Contru took a look around his small town as he walked. Nothing had changed in the time they had been gone, except that the mythril holds were a little bit more filled now then when they had left. _"Looks like a trip out for selling some time soon."_

Contru walked up to the double doors that lead into the Inn and worked his way to the back where the Tavern was. As he worked his way inside he spotted Rog seated at a table with two mugs right there. 

Contru made his way to the table and put his pouch down. Then he took a gulp of the drink and found out it was Agartian ale. Strong stuff, but they both liked it. 

"The first one is on me and the last one is on you." Rog then took a drink from his own mug. 

"Fair enough." Contru started to drink from his mug again and soon emptied it before he set it back down. "Everyone in between though is your job." A waitress walked by and Contru signaled that he wanted another one. 

"Good enough for me bud." Rog emptied his and when the waitress came back, she had brought both of them new ones. 

"Thanks." Contru said and threw down his payment as Rog did the same. They both knew that the pouches they came with would be empty by the end of the night. 

Contru drank some of his ale and then set his mug down to have a look around the place. Contru loved the place because everyone knew everyone else in the bar. It was like a giant party every night so the town was never boring, unless you didn't like to drink or have fun. The waitresses here were always friendly and gave you great smiles. They also showed just enough to make men drool and the women blush. The bar was always dim, just like they should be in his opinion, and always filled with noise. 

"Hey Contru, you think we go to Mysidia and check up on things, least on the elder?" Contru looked over to his friend and saw him staring blankly into his mug. 

"What's the point? We would get there and find everything the same. I don't think they're going to let Baron do anything to them again. It would be more of a waste then anything else. I think we need to just stay here and insure that-" Contru was cut off though when there seem to be a raise in volume of noise up at the bar. 

"What's going on?" Rog got up and tried to see better, but Contru got up and started to walk towards the source of the noise. Rog drank the rest of his ale and then followed quickly behind. 

As Contru got closer he could here what was being said now. 

"You spilled it, you pay for it!" 

"I ain't payin' fer anythin'. You just nee' to git yer fat ass away from mee before yer git hurt!" 

Contru pushed his way up to the men and saw that it was two of the miners that were in the town. It seemed one of them had his drink spilled on him by another miner. 

"You better or you'll be sorry!" Just as he was about to raise his fist Contru walked between them. 

"I understand your upset but just over look it. I'll buy you another drink if your really that upset about it." 

The miner's face went into pure rage. "Stay out of this Contru! This guy has been asking for it for a long time now! I'll kick your ass first and then his if I have to!" 

Contru went to look at the man who had spilled the drink and then ducked as a fist passed over his head, knocking the other man out cold. Contru then jumped out of the way as another punch headed his way. 

"Look I told you I'd buy you another drink, if you knock me out you won't get that drink." Contru then jumped out of the way again as another punch came his way. "Well if you want it that way…" Contru then pulled back his fist and planted it deep in the miner's stomach. As soon as the punch hit, the man fell of his knees and was holding his stomach. 

Contru stood up and realized that the bar had gone silent and that everyone was looking at him. Contru found Rog standing there, with a worried look on his face. Contru then realized that the whole bar was starting to gather around him. 

"It looks like I bit off more than I can chew right here…" Contru then grabbed the nearest chair and hit the first person who started to charge at him. As the chair broke Contru dove down on the ground and avoided all of the attacks that were heading his way. Contru got up and started to punch anything that approached him. He soon realized that the whole bar was in complete chaos and that the people in the bar were fighting any other person. 

Contru avoided yet another attack from a drunken patron and then knocked him out with a blow to his head. Contru was slowly being backed into the bar as he fought because it was like each time he took care of someone, another two would come at him, even people that had just been fighting each other. Contru looked over his back quickly and saw how close the bar was now. He grabbed the person in front of him and threw him into the bar. Contru then got out of the way as a couple of other people fighting started to head towards him. Contru kept backing up until his back bumped something, no, someone. 

Contru turned and went to go punch the person but stopped when he saw it was Rog. 

"Well looks like we found a fight right here at home, eh buddy?" 

"Yeah…Look out!" Contru pushed Rog out of the way and hit the person that was coming from behind Rog. When Contru turned around, he saw that Rog had taken care of two people with a chair leg. 

"We had better get out of here soon or we'll end up like them soon!" 

"Yeah, you're right." Contru grabbed hold of a table leg himself and the two of them started for the door, which happened to be on the other side of the bar. 

The two of them went across the entire bar and when they made it to the door, they realized that everyone in the place was knocked out on the ground. They both looked at the bar and saw that all the waitresses were back there with the bartender who was cleaning a glass out. 

"Sorry about that Keep. Bill the guy that started it." Contru said as he put his table leg down on the ground. 

"Don't worry, I fully intend on it. You guys can have a drink on the house if you want for taking care of them?" 

Contru shook his head, as did Rog. "We got enough already. We'll just go so no more trouble comes about." 

"Alright, enjoy your night." 

"Thanks Keep." Contru and Rog left the mess and walked out of the Inn and saw that it was still bright and sunny out. 

"That's kind of weird to have a bar fight in the middle of the day, don't you think Contru?" 

"It's the miner's day off, that's why they were all in there." Contru ran his hand threw his hair and could feel the oil and sweat come out onto his hand. "I'm going to go home for a nice rest. I'll buy you that drink another time, alright?" 

"Fine with me, but I won't let you forget. Bye Contru." Rog started to walk back to his house as Contru did the same. After making it to his house he went into his room and crashed on his bed for some much needed rest. 

~

Cecil held the torch out as far as he could to light the path ahead of him. Cecil shook his head and looked back at his group. 

"I didn't think these Waterways were this long. I just hope that we can get out of the water, I think my feet might be permanent raisins by now." 

All Cecil got back in a response was a small chuckle from Tellah. The rest of the group remained silent, with a small shiver from Palom. Cecil turned back around and continued walking forward, dragging his legs through the knee deep water that had started to put a small chill on his legs that was slowly crawling up his body. Cecil now understood why Palom had shivered. 

Cecil's hope was starting to fade as the water just seem to go on forever down this passage. _"Did I take a wrong turn someplace…no that's impossible. The is only one path in the Waterways, the rest are just little alcoves that end just right off of the path…but why does this feel like it's never ending." _

Cecil was about to stop and ask them if they wanted to turn back, but just as he was stopping he could feel the ground under the water starting to slope upward. Cecil started to move forward some more to just make sure that he wasn't imagining things and the water was getting shallower with each step. 

Cecil turned back around to the group and signaled them to start moving a little faster. Cecil kept on moving and after just a few short seconds he was out of the water and on to dry land. Cecil turned around and backed up a little bit so the rest of his group could get on as well. 

"Took ussss long enoughh." Palom said through chattering teeth. "Can weee stop and warm up for a bittt?" Cecil looked at his group and knew that they would not be ready to do anything inn the shape they were in. 

"Yes. We will stop when we get to a larger area away from the water. Just a little further and we'll stop." Cecil started to lead the group on again up the hill as it started to climb back toward ground level. Cecil started to notice that the tunnel had a little bit more light than it had back further down. Cecil kept on going and noticed that the opening they were coming up to had light pouring out of it. Cecil walked through the opening and saw that the walls had torches on them, and that they were lit. 

Tellah walked up beside Cecil and had a worried look on his face. "Cecil…do you think that they are expecting us?" 

Cecil shook his head and looked at Tellah. "No. I don't know who knows about this exactly, but maybe they always keep this place lit up in case the King needed to escape. I knew about this…Kain maybe knows about it…and most likely Baigan does too." 

"Who is Baigan?" Tellah said as Cecil started to walk forward, but with a more cautious look on his face and caution in his step. 

"Baigan is the Captain of the Guard of Baron. That's why he would know about this place, because he would be the one to get the King into it." Tellah nodded his head and stayed close by Cecil. 

Cecil looked around as the path kept going uphill wondering the same thing that Tellah was. _"I don't think that this is a trap…it could be, but I know I won't fall for it…I'll make sure I get into the castle. _

Cecil headed up some steps, looking around the entire time and taking each step with great caution. Cecil went up a set of stairs and as he came out, he pulled out his sword, and was looking around to make sure no one was in the room. 

Yang came up right afterward looking a Cecil like he was crazy. "Are you alright Cecil?"

"Yes Yang, I'm fine. Just a little worried now that we are so close to the castle." Cecil sheathed his sword and saw that there was a door in the wall. He looked over at Yang who was already moving towards it as quick as a cat. 

Cecil came up on the other side of the door and looked right at Yang. Yang nodded and Cecil opened the door and went in first, with Yang coming right behind to help his friend. 

After they were both in the room, the only thing they found was an empty room. Cecil walked back out and saw the others in the larger room. "There's an empty room right here that we can rest in. We'll start a fire so we can warm up for a little bit before we move on." The twins and Tellah came into the room and Cecil shut the door behind them. 

The group sat down in a circle while Tellah created a small fire in the middle to start warming them up. Cecil looked around the room and saw that there were plenty of boulders around the room. Cecil sat back and started to relax and heard the conversation going on, but wasn't paying any attention to it at all. 

Cecil lay down and turned onto his side, which was better than lying on his back because of the entire armor he had on. When Cecil directly in front of him, he saw that there was an opening in the wall. 

Cecil got up and headed in the direction of the opening, not paying any attention to the questions he was being asked by his friends. Cecil went down the short hallway and came to a spot that had light coming in from the ceiling. The light was landing all on one spot, which had a sword stuck in the ground right there. Cecil walked around the light trying to figure out what the sword was exactly. 

Cecil didn't even notice that Yang and Tellah had walked into the room as he walked into the circle of light around the sword. Cecil reached out and touched the sword. _"What is this sword doing here, what could this mean? I have the urge to pull it out for some reason…" _

Cecil then put his hands around the hilt of the sword and started to pull. As he did, the sword started to slide easily out of the ground, and with very little effort, the sword was out of the ground and in his hands. Cecil just stood there, lost in the sword, the way the light reflected off the blade and onto the floor and the walls of the cave. 

"Cecil, what is that?" Just as the question was asked Cecil snapped out of his trance and came back to the real world. 

"Sorry about that Tellah…to answer your question…I don't know what this is at all." Cecil started to look at the sword and found at the bottom of the blade, near the hilt, on one side of it, there was something inscribed on the blade. 

"I found some kind of inscription, it reads: 'This blade is the blade of Kings, nay of Gods, the one who holds this blade is the ruler of the Great Lands of Baron.'" After finishing the last word Cecil dropped the sword on the ground, in complete shock. 

"Cecil…if what the blade says is true then, then are you the King of Baron?" Yang looked at Cecil with confusion in eyes. 

"No…I can't be…I'm just some ordinary solider….I'm not a king…" 

"Then why are you able to pull the blade from the ground if you aren't the king?" 

"I don't know Yang…but I intend on finding out." Cecil picked up the sword again and brought it back into the room with the twins and took a large piece of wool cloth from under his armor he used for some extra padding and wrapped the sword with it. Cecil then tied the sword onto his back with some white cotton cloth he had with him as well. 

"Well I think that it's time for us to get going. I think it's in the afternoon now so I want to be in there quickly. I think that we are almost there because of the opening in that room's ceiling." Tellah and Yang heard the end of that speech as the finally returned from the room. "You two ready to go?" 

"Yes Cecil. Let's go quickly." Yang said as he headed for the door. The twins got up shortly after Yang was out of the door and Tellah followed after them, after putting out his fire. Cecil followed them out last and shut the door again. The group headed for a set of stairs that lead upward and was open to the sunlight. Cecil emerged out first, saw that there was no one watching, and went running to the castle wall. The rest came out and joined him on the wall. Cecil then led them around the castle going through the moat until they were at the front of the castle. Cecil then pulled on some sort of handle and the castle courtyard was opened up to them. 

"Quickly inside the court yard." They all went in there and then Cecil came in a shut the door again. 

"Well Cecil we are in, now what?" Tellah asked while looking around. 

"We need to get into the castle first. Follow me." Cecil went across the courtyard quickly and headed into the castle. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

A/N: Sorry about the delay on this chapter but I got sidetracked with work and coming to school. Hope you guys enjoy and hopefully I can get the next chapter up quickly for all of those people out there who read this. Thanks for the reviews too. PLEASE keep them coming. 

Chapter 9

Contru started to pick through the huge mess that he had created over the past few months while he tried to find himself a shirt that he could wear when he went over to the Mayor's house. 

__

"Why did the Mayor have to call a meeting now? I got more important crap to worry about then what that old geezer thinks sometimes. Contru threw a big pile of clothes that weren't what he needed. Contru then started to dig through another huge pile and about halfway down found a somewhat clean, at least clean enough for this stupid meeting. 

Contru threw the shirt on over his shoulders and started to leave his house. His father was already gone because he was also a part of the Village Council. Contru still didn't understand why he was being called to the meeting because he was only a member of it in case of emergencies. _"What emergency could there be that they needed to call me?"_

Contru got out of his house and started towards the Mayor's house at a jog and was there very quickly. Contru walked right into the house and the conversation that was going on just stopped. 

"Sorry to interrupt but I heard I was needed here." The Mayor just nodded his head and motioned Contru into the house. 

"Yes. The Council has decided to forgo all trade with any nation until this crisis has past." 

"I don't mean to offend you sir, but what crisis?" 

The Council started to laugh at him. One of the other older men in the Council decided to stop laughing and actually tell him what was going on. "The whole thing with Baron on the attack. We don't want any of our citizens out there in case Baron decides to start taking ships captive." 

"Why? I don't think Baron would-" But Contru was stopped by another member. 

"The decision isn't up to you, we have already decided on it and it's not going to change." 

The Mayor, who had been nodded his head with both the men while they were talking, decided to say some more. "Until the time we see fit to let you and your crew sail again, you and Rog will head the defenses of our town. That will be your sole duty until we see fit to sail again." 

Contru clenched his fist; he was ready to explode inside. _"Stupid Council…never letting me decide what to do with MY ship and MY crew. I KNOW the men wouldn't mind trying to deal with Baron…they would take it like they always do and deal with it. I know I can't win this though so I'll have to go along…for now." _Contru calmed himself down a little bit before speaking, so he wouldn't say something he'd regret. "I understand…is there anything specifically that you want Rog and I to do first?" 

"Yes, indeed there is." The Mayor grabbed some paper off his desk in front of him and handed it to Contru. "Everything on this list needs to be taken care of first before we will think our town is ready." 

Contru grabbed the papers and found a list that went on for all three pages. _"These old geezers are nuts…this is going to take forever to finish all this stuff…"_ Contru found one thing on the list interesting though. "If I may ask, how do you intend on having lookout posts?" 

"That's the easiest part Contru," the Mayor began. "You will drop off people on some of the smaller islands that are around this one and they will each have a device to communicate with the mainland here, either some kind of smoke signal or light signal, whatever you decide. We just want to have some kind of early notice for ourselves here." 

"I understand. I'm going to go and get to work on this right now, if you don't mind?" 

"Yes, please get started as soon as possible, and don't slack off like you usually do either." Those words were told with crispness that Contru understood. Contru turned around and left the building and started for Rog's house. 

__

"This stupid Council! I'm sick and tired of all the shit they tell me to do! It would be so much better if I had more say in it, seeing how I bring in the most income to this stupid town anyway!" Just as he finished that thought, he got to Rog's door. Contru knocked and waited for an answer. 

Rog opened the door, and looked a bit shocked to see Contru. "What are you doing here Contru?" 

"I just got a list about what we're suppose to do with our time now that The Council won't let us sail for a while." 

Rog almost lost his demeanor when he heard that. "What!?" 

Contru walked into Rog's house and sat down at his kitchen table. "The Council said that because of Baron we can't sail until it's safe." Rog looked like his vein on his forehead was about to explode. "So until they do let us sail, we are in charge of taking care of the town's defenses. That list on the table is everything we have to take care of before the say, 'the town is secure.'" 

Rog picked up the list and started to look through it, briefing seeing what needed to be done. "Well you know how I feel about the Council, but if we don't do what they tell us to, we won't have jobs anymore." 

"That's the damn thing, I own that ship!" Contru stood up so forcefully, that he knocked his chair off its legs. "Just because it's the damn town's mythril doesn't mean they should have run over the ships that do all the trading for this God forsaken town. I can't wait to get my ass out of here…" 

"Rog shook his head. "I know how you feel, but that's never going to happen unless you get a trading job outside of Mythrila, which is scarce now because of Airships. It's just the way the world works." Rog looked back down at the list and put it back down on the table. "Well we better to get work, don't want them on our asses about the whole thing too." 

"Yeah, good point. Let's get the crew together." Contru bent over and put his chair back upright and followed Rog outside to start on their task. 

~

Cecil opened the door that was in front of him and looked inside the room. _"Empty? This doesn't make any sense. Where are all the guards?" _Cecil went further into the castle and wet up a set of stairs. 

Cecil poked his head outside and spotted no guards again. After checking in all directions, just to be on the safe side, he went up the stairs all the way and stood on the top of the small little rise in the castle that leads to the main part from the courtyard. 

"It's all safe to come up…no guards anywhere." Cecil looked around again, a bit confined by the sword on his back though. _"Maybe I should put this in my room here…"_ Just as he finished that thought though, a feeling went through him that told him that would be a very bad decision. 

Cecil saw the rest of his friends come up the stairs as he continued to look around. 

"Is something the matter Cecil?" 

"Yes Yang there is…I do not understand why there is not a single soul in the castle at all. I would have thought that there would be extra guard, if not men, then monsters at least." Cecil continued to look around, and even tried to poke his head inside the other courtyard, but he was unable to because the portcullis was blocking the way. 

"Well we should see it as good fortune as to our arrival. We seemed to come at just the right time." 

"You might think that way Yang, but I know Baron too well. I did grow up here, remember? The King would never leave the castle like this, and even Golbez would understand that if he wanted to do anything to imitate the King." 

"Well I think we should get going as soon as possible, before anyone does return. If Golbez is here, I want him now!" Tellah started to flash with rage as he started to gather some power for a magical spell. "If we don't get going soon, I will make my own path through this castle if you want to worry about where the hell everybody is!" 

"Cecil…" Yang looked at the Paladin with a worried look on his face. "I do agree with Tellah. We should take advantage of this lull of the guard and find Cid. Which way to the dungeon?" 

"No…that would be the first place he would expect us to look…Golbez isn't that stupid to put Cid there. We need to find some person, or monster, who is in charge here and find out where Cid is." Cecil took one last look around and started to head for the stairs into the main section of the castle. "Let's go to the throne room and find out what we can from the 'King'." 

Cecil headed down the stairs and could hear everyone else following him. Cecil got to the bottom of the steps and started onto the main path that lead to the throne room to his left and outside the castle to the right. 

The room they were in had many columns in it to hold up the ceiling. Those columns were also adorned with writing on the base of the column that went up on a pathway that wrapped it around until it reached the ceiling. There were also some colored tapestries that came from Troia and also from Fabul. The room was lit by openings in the wall that made it appear the light was just falling into the room straight from heaven. Cecil had always like this room when he was younger because of the look it put into his mind about Baron being like heaven, or at least as close as he could get to it. 

Cecil rounded the corner and headed left to go to the throne room and talk to the King to find Cid, or if there was no King, to just find Cid from there. Cecil walked straight ahead, until he could hear footsteps. Cecil turned around and drew out his sword and prepared for a fight. 

Cecil noticed that everyone else was out of sight so that just in case Cecil couldn't handle what was coming, they could surprise the guards. Cecil put his back against a wall and looked towards the castle entrance, where the steps were coming from. 

The person that walked around the corner was someone Cecil was happy to see. 

"Baigan…it's good to see you." The person that walked into the room was the Captain of the Royal Guards. He had blonde hair that was short and kept nice a trimmed. He wore a red cape that was adorned with the symbol of Baron on the back. His uniform that he wore was all red and had the look of a dress uniform to it. Baigan had a short sword at his side, just like all the guards in the castle did as well as a small knife on his waist. 

Baigan stopped and looked at the person that was talking to him. "Cecil…?" 

"Yes old friend, it's me." Baigan walked up to Cecil and looked him over. 

"It's good of you to return." Baigan looked at Cecil, with a blank look on his face. 

"Baigan." Cecil looked at Baigan, who still held that same blank look. 

Baigan's face changed all of sudden, and came back to a normal, human looking expression. "Is something the matter?" Baigan began to look around, trying to see what Cecil was worrying about. 

Cecil started to back away and started to lift up his sword, which had fallen to his side in a relaxed position when he had seen Baigan enter. "You serve Golbez as well?" 

Baigan's expression changed from one of worry, to pure disgust. "Never! As Captain of the Royal Guard, my loyalty lies with Baron." 

Cecil began to relax a little bit and let his sword drift down away from a fighting stance. "Where is Cid? I heard he was confined somewhere in the castle." 

Baigan nodded his head in agreement. "I, too, have attempted to find him, but my men and I were ambushed. Now I remain the sole survivor." 

Cecil shook his head in sadness and looked up at Baigan. "Then let us find him together." 

Baigan put his hand to his chest and bowed. "It would be an honor to join you." Cecil noticed over Baigan's shoulder that everyone else had come out of hiding and they were all walking up now. Each one of them held an apprehensive look on their faces. 

Cecil and Baigan started to walk towards the throne room, but Palom and Porom just stood there looking at Baigan. Cecil noticed this and stopped and looked at Porom. "What is it?" 

Palom was the first to answer as he started to shiver just a little bit. "Something's wrong." 

Porom nodded her head in agreement. "Yes. I sense danger." Porom looked over towards her brother. "A monster?" 

Baigan drew his sword and started to look around "What!?" He backed past Cecil trying to see if he could find anything. 

Palom shook his head and looked directly at Baigan. "Oh, give me a break." 

Porom chimed in from next to her brother. "What shameful acting!" 

Cecil turned around and drew his sword out, and looked right into Baigan's, cold blue eyes. "Baigan, you also betray Baron?" 

Baigan dropped his short sword and looked towards the ground. When he lifted his head though, there was an evil grin across his face. Then he began to laugh, a laugh that was an evil cackle, that made goosebumps run down Cecil's back. Through that grin, Baigan said. "Golbez's wishes are Baron's wishes. He granted a wonderful power to me…observe!" 

As soon as he finished speaking, his body began to grow. His clothes began to tear and fall off of him. As he continued to grow, his arms became snakes that started to bite at the air in front of them. Baigan's face had also changed to where he looked like a half human, half snake. Baigan then began to walk forward to attack the group. 

Cecil started to run forward and as he did, he saw a large fire spell go by him and hit Baigan right in the chest. Cecil kept running even as the flames still somewhat burned on Baigan. Cecil lifted his sword over his head and sliced off the right arm or snake now and cut off the left one as well. Just as he was about to stab Baigan in the body with his sword, he was hit in the body with one of Baigan's legs. 

Cecil fell backwards but was able to roll upright from his back because of his momentum. Cecil looked right at Baigan, who held a grin across his face. 

"What are you smiling at?" 

Baigan just continued to smile as his arms started to grow back into snakes from the stubs that Cecil had left him. Cecil saw another spell fly by him, but the arms took the damage, protecting the body. 

Cecil charged at Baigan and was able to put a deep gash into his right leg, before getting hit by his arm and sent into the wall. 

Yang was right at Cecil's side to stop Baigan from taking advantage of Cecil's lack of defense. Cecil got up and saw Palom throw an ice spell at Baigan, which froze his left arm to protect his body. 

"Yang what are we going to do, he seems to have a good defense with those arms that he can just grow back." Cecil asked Yang as they examined Baigan. 

"We will have to keep those arms from protecting the body. I have an idea. If I can get hit arms out of the way, do you think that you could take care of him with one slice?" 

Cecil looked toward Baigan who was dealing with the three mages at this point and looked right at his neck. "I can do that." 

Yang nodded. "Good. Just make sure you don't hit me." 

"I won't Yang, do not worry." 

Just as Cecil finished that Yang went running to stay behind Baigan so that he could grab his arms. Cecil went running and picked up a stone he found on the ground. Cecil then threw it at Baigan's head. 

The stone connected right on the back of Baigan's head. The giant snake monster turned around and started to come after Cecil. 

Just as Baigan started to move, Yang grabbed hold of his right arm and pulled it back and reached, and grabbed hold of the left arm as well. Yang leaned back as well, getting more leverage on the monster. 

Baigan tried to pull himself free, but the Monk was too strong holding onto his arms. The sweat started to pour off of Yang's solid muscles as he continued to hold on with everything he had. 

Cecil saw that Yang did have him firmly and started to run up to him. The mages noticed what was happening and stopped their attacks so they wouldn't hurt Yang or Cecil on accident. 

Cecil lifted his sword to do a lateral cut to take off his head. Cecil jumped into the air just enough to make sure Yang didn't get caught in the swipe. Cecil drew the blade across, taking off Baigan's head cleanly. 

The body fell limp and right on top of Yang. Yang started to push his way out from under him, the body started to melt away. 

Cecil dropped his sword and helped pull Yang out from under Baigan's body, but not before he got a little bit of the melted body was on him. 

Yang brushed it off right away but had small burn marks on him. Cecil looked around to find Porom, but saw that she was busy with Palom who had been sent into a wall by and Tellah was checking to make sure no one else was coming because of all the commotion they had caused. 

Cecil started to look over the wound, and realized that right before his eyes, that it was getting smaller. 

"What is happening Cecil, are you healing me?" Yang asked with a curious sound in his voice. 

Cecil pulled his hands away from yang, and the healing stopped. Cecil placed his hands back where they were before and nothing happened. Cecil then closed his eyes and started to focus on healing. Cecil opened his eyes and saw that the wound was healing up. 

"Cecil, how are you able to do this?" 

"I'm not sure exactly Yang…maybe because I'm a Paladin with this holy power inside of me now I have some white magic abilities in me." 

"That would make sense Cecil." Cecil turned and found Tellah looking over his shoulder, examining where the wound had been on Yang's arm. "That looks just as good as any white mage could have done. You do have some white magic within you now. The question I have for you thought is, how did you learn so quickly to use it that well?" 

Cecil stood up and helped Yang up as well. "Rosa…I asked her how she was able to use white magic so freely one time and she explained to me that when she first started it took all of her concentration to even do simple things like heal small wounds or rid a body of poison. She said she would just close her eyes and picture herself doing what she needed to do, and most of the time it would happen. Now she can do just about anything with white magic and she continues to grow in it…" Cecil started to think about Rosa, and how much he missed her when he heard Palom shout. 

"Scrap metal! Nothin' to it!" He smiled at Cecil even though he could tell that there was a bump on Palom's head from where he had hit the wall. 

Cecil looked over to where Baigan's had been, but by now had melted away. "Even Baigan, who seemed so loyal…we had better get going though. We need to find Cid fast and if this trend continues…it will be very hard to get anything done." Cecil went over and picked up his sword and sheathed it. He signaled to everyone to follow him as they continued on the path towards the throne room. 

~

Contru rode his chocobo back from docks after having dropped off all the people on the island he and Rog had decided would be the best places to put watchtowers. Contru had taken a least twenty men to five small islands that were around the main island that Mythrila was on. They were given enough food to last a week, which at that time they would get more food from Contru. 

Contru went up over the hill between the docks and the town, and at the top of it saw a town he had never seen before. 

Mythrila had turned from a small mining town, into a semi-fort. There were watch towers up at the entrance into the town and a gate now between the wall were it had always had an opening, but never a gate before. 

Contru could see the archers already waiting in the top of the towers, looking around to make sure that there were no monsters on there way into the city to attack it. Contru had to shake his head and feel disgusted. _"I can't believe it came to this…that our town would have to board itself up so that we can "protect" ourselves from Baron."_ Contru came closer to the gate and stopped about ten feet from it. 

"Could you open the gate so I may get in?" Contru asked aloud to anyone who could hear him. 

One of the men poked his head out of the tower, and seeing who it was signaled someone. "It'll just be a minute Captain." As quickly as he came, he was gone. 

Contru put his head in his hand. Since they had enlisted every man that was in the town to help with the protection of it, all the men had started calling him captain like his crew did. Contru looked up to see that the gate was opening and that he could start heading in. Contru made his through the gate before it was all the way open. 

The guys working the gate saw this and started to let it close again. In half the time that it took them to get it that far open, it was shut up tight all over again. Contru rode his chocobo to a spot where all the chocobos were taken to a town stable they had started to put up. Contru hopped off and gave the reins to the young boy who was waiting. 

Contru headed right for the Inn, where the official headquarters was because it was the biggest building in the entire town. Contru pushed the door open and went back into where the tavern had been, until it was put down, for the time, until the crisis was past. Contru found Rog pouring over a map of the town and walked up to him. 

"All the men are dropped off at the islands with the way they are going to communicate with us." 

"Are they all set up on the stands?" Rog said without even looking up from the map at all. 

"Not yet. I told to give them to us just three flashes to the guys here." 

"Do our guys here know that?" 

"Yeah. I told one of the men that helped load everything on the ship, but that didn't go with to them here. Did he tell them?" 

"Yes. I saw one of the men go up to the top and I think I heard him say something about three flashes." Rog finally looked up at Contru with a heavy look on his face, one that Contru shared. "Well once they all check in, then everything that the Council wanted done, is done." 

"Yes. Until they ask us to milk their cows, and trim their bushes." Rog had to start laughing at his friend. There hadn't been too much laughter since they had started to change the town into a fort. 

"I think we should tell the Council where we are with everything they wanted done…you want to tell them?" 

Contru's eyes bulged out and he looked at his friend. " I would rather kiss Baron's feet then go back into that house with that group." 

Rog nodded his head in agreement and looked at Contru. "You had to get all the garbage, I've turn it in and see what we get in return." Rog grabbed the map and rolled it up. Contru had been glad that Rog had pulled that map f the town out from his house. It made it much easier to figure out where to put the towers and where to have the weapons stored as well. Contru sat down in the chair that Rog had obviously not used at all, just when a person popped his head down from the roof, where the receiving station was for the islands. 

"Captain, all of the islands have reported in now. We are good to go." 

"Thank you." Contru didn't even see the man, because by the time he had turned his head to see who it had been, he was already gone. Contru leaned back in the chair, relaxing finally for the first time today. _"I just hope we don't get anymore to do today,"_ Contru thought as he started to doze off in the chair. 

~

Cecil hurried through the doors that lead into the antechamber into the throne room. After taking care of everything in the entrance hall, and making sure that no one else was coming, Cecil had rushed the group through the rest of the castle to get to the throne room. Cecil put his back against the door to see if he could hear anyone that might be guarding the King. 

Cecil listened patiently, but couldn't hear even the slightest sound. 

"Can you hear anything Cecil?" Yang asked as the others closed the other doors quietly. 

"No. It sounds as if the room is empty entirely…but that can't be." Cecil looked at the others and pointed his head in the direction of the throne room. The rest of the group nodded. 

Cecil turned around and drew his sword quietly, and when he was ready, kicked open the door and rushed in. Cecil ran forward into the throne room, to see the King sitting on his throne. 

As the rest of the group came into the room, the King rose from his throne. His gaze fell right to Cecil, who was standing there with his holy sword drawn and in his Paladin armor. 

"Cecil!? You ingrate! How dare you renounce the dark sword without my authority!?" His eyes flared with rage as he spoke now. His royal cape that he was wearing appeared to be lifting in the air as he anger grew. The crown sat on his head in an awkward position that made it look…unnatural. Beneath the cape was a red shirt and white trousers. 

Cecil looked directly at the King, and knew that something wasn't right about the King. "How dare YOU renounce your duty to your people, "Your Majesty"!"

The King had a shocked look on his face. "Your who? Oh, you mean that old daffer who refused to surrender this kingdom." The imposter started to laugh at Cecil. "I must say I've enjoyed impersonating him." He continued to laugh, but it was just under his breath. 

Cecil raised his sword up and was ready to charge. "What have you done with the King?" 

The imposter continued to laugh, but stopped eventually. "You'll see him soon enough. Oh, and give my regards to Milon when you see him in hell. That weakling never deserved to be one of the Four Fiends of Elements." The imposter started to grow in size, and almost appeared to be ready to break through a costume. 

Cecil drew back a little bit, with a shocked look on his face. 

The monster continued to grow and then his skin started to crack. His kept on increasing in size and then started to break and fall off. As it continued to fall off, his true body started to show through. 

Cecil just stood there looking at the monster as his size grew to double what it had been. 

When his transformation had finally been completed, the demon had turned into a giant blue turtle. "Behold! I am the Devil of Water, Cagnazzo!" 

Cagnazzo charged forward towards Cecil who held up his arms to guard himself. The demon hit Cecil hard, head on, and sent the Paladin into the wall near the door. As he hit the door, Cecil lost grip of his sword 

The twins started to charge up their magical power as Tellah did the same. Yang went to go grab Cecil as Cagnazzo appeared to be getting ready to charge at the knight while he was defenseless. 

Yang jumped in front of Cecil and punched Cagnazzo in his face as he was charging the Paladin. 

Cecil got up a realized that his sword was over across the room. As he went to get up though, Cagnazzo charged Yang into Cecil and they both went into wall hard. 

Cecil grabbed for air because when Yang had hit him, the wind had been knocked right out of him. After he was able to breathe again, Cecil moved out of the way to let Yang handle Cagnazzo for a little bit. Cecil looked at the way Yang was fighting Cagnazzo and realized that the only way they were going to win was with magic. 

Cecil looked over towards where the mages were. Palom and Porom were still powering up their twin spell and Tellah looked as if he was getting for a very strong attack of his own. 

Cecil heard a crash at the throne and saw that Cagnazzo had sent over Yang in that direction. Cecil grabbed his holy sword from along the wall where it had rested, and charged after the water demon. 

Cecil did a very powerful downward slash onto Cagnazzo's back, and didn't even phase the monster. 

All Cecil heard was an evil cackle, and then he was batted into the wall again. Cecil opened his eyes and saw a huge lightning bolt come from Tellah and hit the demon dead on target. 

Cagnazzo backed up a little bit and looked towards the old man. 

"You want to mess with people that barely hurt you." Tellah took some deep breaths, and continued on. "Why don't you try to deal with me then, someone who CAN hurt you!" Tellah started to power up another spell as Cagnazzo glared at him. 

Cagnazzo started to head towards the old wizard, but as soon as he started to move he got hit by the twins Pyro spell. Cagnazzo walked back a few feet and looked at all the mages. "You think you stop me with those parlor tricks? I'll show you true magical power." Just then the demon put his body into his shell and then after a few moments and huge amount of water started to pour out of the openings where his head, arms, and legs had been. 

Cecil was able to brace himself against the wall, as was Yang, but the mages were right in the middle of spells again and couldn't move in enough time and were picked up by the water and sent into the wall behind them. 

Cagnazzo popped his body back out and started moving towards the mages. All of them were down and weren't going to be able to get any spells out quickly enough to save them from attack. Cecil started to run towards Cagnazzo and slashed at the side of his head. 

"ARGH!" Cagnazzo yelled in pain and turned quickly on Cecil, knocking his sword right out of his hand. Then the demon opened his mouth at the Paladin to show his rows of sharp teeth. 

Cecil on instinct reached behind him and grabbed the sword he had found in the Waterways off his back. After breaking it free of the bindings he had on it, he grabbed the sword with both of his hands by his right temple, and thrust it into Cagnazzo's mouth. 

"ERAGH!" Cagnazzo yelled in pain, as best he could, because of the sword sticking right out of his mouth. The demon started thrash around and knocked Cecil, completely by accident, away from him. 

As the demon was thrashing about, Tellah was getting ready for another spell that should finish him off. Tellah waited for the right moment and then as the demon was facing him, let go of his spell. 

The bolt of lightning went straight into the sword sticking out of his mouth, and sent the electric charge right down inside of him. 

Cagnazzo started to convulse and thrash around even more, until his body went limp and didn't move again. 

Cecil stood up and looked around the room. Yang appeared to be okay even though he had a few cuts and bruises. The twins appeared to okay, but they looked like they never wanted to have anything to do with water again. Cecil walked up to the dead body of the demon and pulled the sword out of his mouth. Cecil turned around and saw Porom approaching him. 

"Are you alright Cecil?" 

"Yes Porom, I am fine. Are you injured at all? I do have some healing powers. It may not be much but it might help with any injuries you have." 

"No. I am fine, but thanks for you offer." Cecil looked over towards Tellah and saw that he was leaning against the wall with his left arm. Cecil quickly walked over to the sage and placed a hand on his back. 

Tellah looked over his shoulder and, seeing it was Cecil, turned around. 

"Are you alright Tellah. You look very tired." 

"Yes I am fine. I just have not used that much power in a long time. I was not ready for the drain it would put on me. I will be fine with a little rest." 

Cecil nodded his head. "Alright, rest now while the rest of us take care of everything in here." Cecil turned and walked towards where the rest of the group had gathered. 

"Cecil." Yang said as the knight approached. "It appears that we have no information on Cid at all. What is next?" 

"I am not sure Yang…" Cecil hung his head and started to think. Cecil walked over toward where his holy sword had been thrown, and picked it up. As Cecil started to walk back to where Yang and the twins were, the door to the throne room burst open.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 10

"You swine!" A voice said as the person walked into the room. He was wearing a leather apron that was covered in grease and holding a wooden wrench in his right hand. Under his apron he was wearing a simple white shirt that seemed to have seen it's share of the grease that was on his apron, and his tan colored pants as well showed the signs of the grease as well. He has a large blue beard flowing out from his face that was a complete mess of knots and tangles. Over his head was a cap that had a pair of goggles attached to them that seemed to have been smeared numerous times with some liquid. "Lockin' me up in that stink hole! I'm gonna knock your teeth in!…Eh?" The man looked around the room and saw the group standing there and Cagnazzo's dead body on the floor still. 

Cecil's face lit up immediately as soon as the man had stopped his tirade. "Cid!" Cecil ran up to the man and put his arm on his shoulder. 

Cid looked at Cecil for a minute with a dumbfounded look on his face until he realized who it was. "Cecil? Doggone, I thought you croaked! Where's my beloved Rosa!? She ran after you, convinced that you were still alive." 

Cecil's face went down to his chest immediately, and his cheery mood vanished from his face. "Golbez took her…" 

Cid's faced exploded from wonder to anger in a spilt second. "WHAT!? You bumblin' pinhead!! Curse that Golbez! First my airship, and now Rosa!" 

Tellah had been resting on the wall for the entire time, but now was fed up with Cid. The sage walked over to Cid and put his face right into the engineer's. "Cut your jabber and lead us to your airship!" 

Cid looked at Tellah and then back over to Cecil. "Who is this old fart?" 

Tellah's eyes raged with anger and he force Cid to look back at him. "You bug-eyed stinker!" 

Cid waved his hand at Tellah and turned away from him again. "Ahh, go get your walker, y'fossil." 

Tellah was about to hit Cid with his staff, but Porom walked in between the two to stop them before anything bad happened. "Please, this is not the time. Sir, this is the great Sage, Master Tellah." Porom then turned to Yang who had walked up to ensure the two old men did not get into a fight. "Master Yang the High Monk of Fabul. And I am Porom, from Mysidia." 

Palom had not moved from where he had been standing when Cid and come in the Throne Room. "Oh man, oh man…We've got another geezer aboard." 

Porom shook her head at her brother's ways. "That repulsive brat is my twin brother, Palom." 

Palom turned in his sister's direction with rage in his eyes. "Your goody-two-shoes attitude is getting' old." Porom then turned towards her brother and with a simple look quieted him down. 

Yang walked up to Cid and extended his hand. "Pleased to me you." 

Cid took the Monk's hand and gave it a through shaking. "Well, ain't you a mannerly fella." 

Cecil placed his hand on Cid's back to bring his attention to him. "Cid, where is your new airship?" 

"Heh, heh, heh." Cid laughed under his breath. "Where nobody would suspect. Wait till you see my beloved! She's my finest work yet." Cid looked up at the ceiling, seeming to forget where he was. 

Tellah walked up to him though and brought him back to reality. "How about today!? Before Rosa is killed!" 

Cid looked right at Tellah and his blood started to boil." Ahhh, go shave you ears!" Just as he looked like he was ready to blow, he calmed down suddenly. "Doggone…follow me!" 

Cid motioned with his hand to follow him out of the throne room and led the way out the door. Cecil was right behind him with Legend in its sheath and the other sword strapped to his back again. Palom and Porom were the next two out with Yang after them and Tellah bringing up the rear. 

Everyone kept behind Cid as he led the way to where his airship was. Cid was just about to open the doors at the other end of the hall when a laugh started to echo throughout the hall. The voice of it was Cagnazzo's. 

"You have defeated me…but you have not heard the last of Cagnazzo. Now join me in the nether world!" As he finished the sentence, the walls started to move in on the group inside the hall. 

"The walls!" Tellah yelled as the continued to move towards them, even appearing to get faster. 

Cid turned back towards the door in front of him and tried with all of his might to open the door up, but had no luck. He turned back to Cecil with anger on his face. "It's locked!" 

Cecil started to turn around to check on the other door, but saw that Tellah was already there. 

Tellah turned around and looked right at Cecil, knowing what he was thinking. "Same here!" 

Cecil started to look around trying to think of anything he could do to get them out of there, when he saw Palom and Porom walk up towards the different walls that were moving. "Palom! Porom!" 

Palom looked back over his shoulder at the Paladin with a smirk across his face. "We've got no choice." 

"We would have followed you forever, Cecil." Porom said from the other side of the room. 

Tellah walked up towards Cecil and looked at both the twins with shock on his face. "What!?" 

The walls kept on moving and now Palom and Porom were leaning against them, as if they were going to stop them. "It's been, Cecil." Palom said before turning back to his wall. 

"Thank you." Porom said as she turned to face he wall again. 

"Ready?" Palom shouted over his shoulder towards his sister. 

"Yes." Porom responded. The walls were getting really close now, there was only about room for two people to walk through abreast. 

Cecil looked back and fourth between the two twins, tears rolling down his cheeks. "NOOO!" Cecil yelled at them. 

"STONE!" The twins shouted together. Both of their bodies turned to stone and the walls stopped just as suddenly as they had begun. There was only enough for one person to walk through the hall at a time. 

Cecil fell down to his knees, the tears coming down his face more then before. "Palom!! Porom!!" Cecil put his face in his hands and just sat there, trying to regain himself. 

Tellah walked up to the twins, who were in line with each other, and looked at both of them. "Hold on! Esuna!" Tellah cast the spell on both of them at the same time, trying to break the spell, but it had no effect on the twins at all. Tellah dropped his staff and started to yell at the stone statues. "You fools! I am an old man; it should have been me!" 

Yang looked at the twins, frozen there with their small little arms against the wall. "Forgive me, Palom, Porom." Yang said as he bowed to them in respect. 

Tellah stood up and grabbed his staff and started to walk forward. Cecil looked up as he walked by and saw the same fire he saw in Tellah's eyes when he had to watch his own daughter die. 

Tellah stopped and looked up and just started to yell. "I shall avenge you both…Do you hear me!? I shall avenge you!!

Cid had stood at the door the entire time and turned around, to hide the tears that had started down his face. "Time for some payback! To the Enterprise!" Cid took his wrench and knocked the handle off and walked right through the door towards wherever the airship was. Tellah and Yang followed behind, leaving Cecil there for a little bit longer. 

Cecil stood up, no longer with tears in eyes, or rolling down his face. His eyes were determined. "Why…?" Cecil then threw his head back and lost his anger. "Golbez!" Cecil shouted towards the villain that had caused this, caused all the recent pain in his life. Tellah was right, Golbez would pay. Cecil looked at where the rest of the group went, and followed them. 

~

Golbez opened his eyes to the metallic interior room that was in the Tower of Zot. Golbez smiled to himself as he got up from the chair that he had been sitting in while he was watching the events that had just transpired at Baron Castle. Golbez looked over to his left to see Kain standing there, protecting him until he had returned from watching. 

"He defeated Cagnazzo. His power continues to grow." Kain was bowing before Golbez before he could even take a few steps from the chair. 

Kain's head lifted up a little bit and looked at the wizard's face. "Sire, regarding the last Crystal--" 

"I know." Golbez said, cutting off the Dragoon. "That place remains a problem." 

Kain stood up and looked Golbez right in the eyes. "Then, by all means, let's have Cecil get it for us." 

Golbez had been about to send Kain into the wall for getting up without permission, but his idea seemed good. "Hmm." 

Kain, seeing he wasn't going to be punished, continued on. "I am certain he will comply; after all, we have Rosa. We can exchange her the last Crystal." 

Golbez looked at his servant, and was pleased. "A primitive idea, but it just might work. And I will destroy him at the time of the exchange." 

Kain bowed down before Golbez on his right knee. "I shall convey your terms to him." Kain got up and started to walk out of the room, until a voice stopped him. 

"Kain!" 

Kain turned his head around to look at Rosa who was tied to the wall still. "Rosa, you'll see soon enough that I am superior to Cecil." The Dragoon then turned back forward and walked out to do his errand. 

~

Cecil continued to walk and as he rounded a corner, he found that everyone was waiting for him. 

Yang walked up to Cecil and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright my friend?" 

"Yes Yang. I will be fine when we get Rosa back…and make Golbez pay for what has happen." 

"First we need to get to my airship. Follow me." Cid stated as he started to lead them again. 

Cecil fell in line behind the rest of them, dwelling on his thoughts. Cecil still couldn't believe that Palom and Porom were no longer with them any more. The group would never see Porom and her cute face and the great kindness she always had. Even Palom being gone was hurting. The kid could be annoying at times but he still shouldn't be stuck in a state of stone just because they were the only two that could have done anything to save the group from the walls closing in. If only there was another way, instead of them dying. 

__

"Cecil…" Cecil stopped dead in his tracks and drew Legend out of it's sheath. The whole group stopped and turned around to see what Cecil was doing. Cecil started to turn around in circles trying to figure out where the voice had come from. 

"Cecil…are you alright?" Tellah asked as he approached the knight. 

Cecil eased down a little bit and lowered his sword. "Did you not hear that voice?" 

"What voice Cecil?" Tellah asked confused. 

"There was voice. It said my name and that was it." Cecil looked around again, and decided that he must've heard something. 

__

"Cecil…" Cecil hadn't even taken two steps before he heard the voice again. This time though, he didn't draw his sword but waited. 

__

"Cecil…the basement…go to it…" Cecil waited to see if the voice would say anything else, but there was just silence. 

"I'm going down to the basement. You may follow if you want." Cecil then darted off in the direction that the basement was in. Cecil could hear the footsteps of everyone else following him, but he didn't care. He had to see what this voice was. 

Cecil came to where the main entrance was and turned left to head towards the eastern courtyard. Cecil headed up the set of stairs that lead to the watch level that he had to cross before he could get to the tower that had the basement in it. Cecil ran as quickly through the upper tier and then almost jumped down the stairs that got him back on the main level. Cecil ran out of the door into the courtyard and went under the gate that was usually down protecting the treasures that were located in this part of the castle. 

Cecil ran into the last tower and went right down the stairs. Cecil hurried down the stairs and then started to slow down finally. Cecil started to walk down a long hallway that seemed to go on for a while. _"I just realized that I have never been down here before. I was never allowed down here even though I was like a son to the King…I wonder what could be down here."_ Cecil walked until he reached a door that was adorned with the King's crest on it, the crest of Baron. Cecil pushed open the door and saw a bright light. 

Cecil covered his eyes with his arm and waited until the light dimmed enough to see without blinding himself. The room seemed to have some sort of glow inside. Some object that wasn't a fire. Cecil walked into the room and saw a throne, and a spirit floating there. As he continued to walk in front of the spirit, he recognized who it was. 

"Your Majesty." Cecil dropped down to his right knee and put his gaze right on the floor. 

"Rise Cecil…There is no need to do that anymore. I am no longer the King of Baron." 

Cecil stood up and looked at the King, or former King now. He appeared to look the same, no huge gash marks or anything. The only difference was that he had a yellowish outline around him. He was also floating above the seat and not really sitting in it. 

"Your Majesty…I mean Baron." It felt weird to Cecil saying that. "Why did you call me down here?" 

"I called you here to let you know that I am not to far away from you. Go to the Land of Summons and you will learn more. Now go Cecil and save Rosa from Golbez." 

Cecil bowed his head and started to head out of the room, but Baron stopped him. 

"What is that sword on your back?" Cecil turned around and looked at Baron. 

"You mean this." Cecil reached around and pulled the sword off his back and then unwrapped it from its bindings. Cecil lifted it up and held it in front of the former King.

"Where did you find that Cecil?" 

"I found it in the Waterways, in an area that seemed like it had been sealed off, it was under a column of light that was coming from the surface." 

"Cecil…That sword is the sword of the Kings of Baron. Cecil if you drew it from that place that means you are the rightful heir to the throne of Baron." 

Cecil dropped the sword as Baron said that. "How can I be the King of Baron? I am only a lowly knight. There must be some mistake." 

"There is no mistake. The only person that can draw that sword, the Ancient, from the ground is the one who is meant to rule this kingdom. I had to do the same thing when I became king of this kingdom…you are the new King. Take care of the kingdom that I lost control of and make sure that the people understand what happen. Remember the Land of Summons. Farewell." 

"Wait, Your Majesty!" But it was too late. He was gone. Cecil bent down and picked up the sword just as the rest of the group came in with confused looks still on their faces. 

"What happened in here?" Tellah asked as Cecil wrapped the sword up. 

"Why didn't you guys come in, the door wasn't locked." 

"Doggone Cecil, when we tried to open the door it wouldn't budge. All three of us were pushing against it and it wouldn't move an inch. We couldn't hear anything either. What the heck did happen in here anyway?" 

"I saw the King…at least his spirit. He told me to go to The Land of Summons, what that is, I have no idea…Have you ever heard of it Tellah?" 

"Land of Summons? I think that is where Summon monsters live when a Summoner does not call them. Other than that I have no idea what it is." 

"Well let us go to your airship Cid and save Rosa." Cecil put the sword back on his back and walked out of the room. 

"Alright…well we have to go back towards the throne room." 

"Okay Cid, lead the way." Cid led them out of the area and Cecil was at the end of the trail. 

__

"There is no need to tell them what Baron told me…about me being King. That would make things way to confusing right now and I don't need that now." Cecil continued to follow as Cid led everyone back through the castle and before Cecil knew it, they were back to the throne room. 

Cid walked up to a nearby wall and started to hit the bricks in a pattern. 

Cecil came out of his thoughts and walked up to the engineer. " I never knew about this." 

"It's been here all along." With a couple final taps a hidden door opened up that lead into a hallway that was filled with torches on the wall. Cid was the first to go down and Cecil was the last one to enter. When they were all inside Cid sealed it all up and started down the stairs that were in front of them. 

Cecil looked in amazement as they kept going deeper and deeper. After what seemed like an hour, they reached the bottom. Cid then turned right and they were opened to the large underground dock. 

"Amazing…"Yang, said as they walked closer towards the ship. Cid hit a button near the ship and bridge descended from the ceiling that allowed them on the ship. The ship looked like the Redwings did, but instead of a deep red color for the wood, this ship seemed to be a more natural color. Maybe the ship had been meant to be the new flagship for the Redwings and never got its painting finished. 

"Ain't she a beauty!" Cid said as he walked on the ship. He went right to the controls and started to work around with them. Then the ship started up and the engines hum started to fill the room. "Let's go Enterprise!" Cid pulled the lever that made it start to levitate and the ship started to move upward. The doors above them started to open and sunlight filled the dark room. The ship came out of the ground as soon as it was wide enough to fit through. As soon as it was clear of the doors, they began to shut and close the docks yet again. 

The airship lifted higher into the air and settled above the castle, which seemed much smaller now then it had before. The ship looked much like any sea ship would, except that on it's masts it had giant propellers instead of sails. On the stern there was also another propeller to push the ship forward through the air. When Cecil had first seen one he wondered how it could have ever flown but all he ever got explained to him by Cid that it was some sort of science that he wouldn't understand. Cecil thought sometimes that Cid didn't really understand how it worked either, he just knew how to use it. Cecil walked around the deck of the ship, getting the feel of the wind in his and the bright sun this high up. Cecil stood up tall and felt proud. 

__

"Finally back on an airship…" Cecil felt like he was much lighter then had been the past few days. _"Just getting back into the air feels good."_ Cecil's joy was short lived though because there was something approaching the Enterprise. An airship of the Redwings. 

Cid went right to where one of the cannons was, and pointed it at what was coming. "Battle stations! Time to unleash the power of the Enterprise!" Cid was signaling them to all do what he was doing as well. 

"Wait." Cecil walked up towards Cid and pointed towards something that was flying high on the mast of their ship. The whole group had come up to see what Cecil was pointing to. 

"What is that?" Yang asked, trying to focus his eyes so he could see what they had all noticed. 

"It is a white flag." Tellah said as the ship continued to get closer to them. Cecil touched Cid's shoulder and signaled with his head to hold off for right now. The airship came closer and pulled along side of the Enterprise. Once it had stopped, a plank was extended to the Enterprise and Kain walked onto it. 

"Kain!" Cecil ran towards where the plank was and was standing on the end of it by his ship. Cid ran up and manned one of the cannons, but all of the cannon doors opened on the Redwing ship opened up, pointing right at where Cecil was. 

Kain stood there on the plank looking Cecil up and down. "Heh! That drag suits you well." Kain laughed a little bit under his breath as Cecil came closer to him on the plank. 

"Kain you little maggot!" Cid yelled from behind his cannon, ready to pull the cannon's cord at a moment's notice. 

Cecil motioned with his hand for Cid to stop it for right now, until he could figure out what was going on. "Where is Rosa!?" Cecil yelled over the wind, which was blowing harder then he remembered it doing on the ship. 

Kain laughed right at Cecil and looked him right in the eyes. Cecil took a step back when Kain did that because Cecil could feel an evil force coming off his old friend. 

"If you want he back, bring me the Earth Crystal." Kain said simply and to the point. 

Cecil looked at Kain dumbfounded. "The Crystal in Troia?" 

"You shameless dog!" Tellah yelled from n the ship. Kain just ignored what Tellah had said, and kept his gaze locked on Cecil's eyes. 

"We'll make the trade once you get the Crystal." Kain turned around gracefully on his feet and took a step back towards his airship. Kain turned his head and put that gaze back onto Cecil. "Remember, Rosa's life depends on it." Kain started to walk back down the plank. 

"You call yourself a knight!?" Yang yelled, but it didn't stop the Dragoon. 

Cecil took a few more steps out onto the plank and almost grabbed Kain. "Snap out of it Kain! Please!" 

Kain's back stayed turned to Cecil, not even making a signal move. "I have said my piece." Kain then walked the rest of the way onto his ship and the plank started to be pulled back in. 

Cecil had to jump onto his ship quickly as they didn't even care that he was still on it. As soon as the plank was away, the Redwings' ship took off as fast as it could, leaving the Enterprise floating above Baron Castle. 

"Cecil." Yang said as he looked at the sullen mood his friend had fallen into. 

"That dirty scumbag…" Cid said as he waved his fist in the direction that the other airship had gone. 

Cecil drew the Legend from its sheath on his side and looked at the sword. Cecil started to remember when he fought with Cagnazzo how this sword had seemed useless and he had to use the Ancient he had found in the Waterways to beat Cagnazzo. _"Time to get myself a new sword…I will not use the Ancient. I am not the King of Baron…I cannot be."_ Cecil placed Legend back in its sheath and waited until Cid had finished yelling into the wind. 

"Cid, set a course northeast…to Mythrila." Cid stopped shaking his fist and looked at Cecil. 

"What do you mean to Mythrila? We have to go to Troia so we can save Rosa! Why are we going the opposite way?" 

Cecil knew Cid would be like this. "Cid, we need to be prepared for anything after we get the Crystal. I would rather prepare for that now and not be trapped by Golbez. Mythrila has the best armor and weapons in the entire world, which is why we are going there. Understand?" 

Cid had his fist in midair getting ready to hit, Cecil but stopped. "It make sense to me, Mythrila it is then." Cid went to the controls and started the ship moving. Cecil went to the door that led below and headed towards the main cabin. Cecil walked in and shut the door. Cecil untied the bundle from his back and placed it down on the desk. _"There has to be something wrong…I cannot be the King of Baron…He must be wrong, he must!"_ Cecil left the sword in the room and walked to one of the beds on the ships to get a little rest. 

~

Contru sat lazily in his chair as he waited until Rog returned from his patrol of the town and the outskirts. Contru was still in his full armor with every weapon he could think of, besides his bow, on him in the positions that he liked them to be. _"Stupid council…I wish they would just let everything go. This has been a huge waist of time and I have no more patience for them. They need to call off this whole 'protecting' the town and let us go back to trading."_ Contru put his arms down on the desk and began to try to get some sleep, seeing as how he had to be up this morning at sunup to start the first patrol. Just as he was about to fall asleep, the door to the room flung open and Rog walked in. 

"What are you lying down like that for? Come on, you've got work to do." Rog took off his riding gloves and set them on Contru's head. 

Contru didn't even move at all. "Not all of us were able to sleep in late today Rog. I had to be up very early this morning. You can take all the morning shifts if you want from now on." Contru said with a muffled voice because he hadn't moved. 

"I think I shall wait until next week when it is my turn to do those patrols." Rog started to laugh, but was cut off as his riding glove came flying at his face. "Nice try Contru, but you missed."

"Get me a bow and some arrows and let me try again." Contru said, still with his head in his arms. Rog started to laugh again and was about to say something when the door from the roof fell open and head popped out from the hole. 

"Captain Contru!" 

"What is it?" Contru said without even looking up. 

"There is an airship approaching from the direction of Baron." Contru's head shot up in an instant as he heard that. 

"Are you sure it?" 

"Yes Sir…As far as we can tell. The island group from the southwest set us the signal of airship." Contru got up and headed out the door as Rog went to sound the alarm to get all the troops ready. 

Contru went outside the Inn and waited as crew from his ship gathered in files in front of him. 

"Contru." Rog yelled from the top of the tower. "It is an airship, I can see it now from here. There is only one though. You think they be here to just buy armor like last time?" 

Contru looked up to where was located at and shrugged his shoulders. "I wish, but the council said to take any airship approaching as a threat to the town." Contru turned back to his men, who were all ready now. "Well you heard what Rog said. We have an airship coming our way. What we have to do is to go out ahead and scout and see how many men are on the ship, and if possible, defeat them before they get to the town. Get your chocobos!' Contru turned around and grabbed the reins that were on his chocobo and hefted himself onto of the giant bird. 

"Have they landed yet Rog?" 

Rog continued looking through the periscope they had and then put it down. "They landed outside of the town near where the forest is south of town. They landed rather far away for some reason." 

"Alright. We move out!" Contru kicked his chocobo into action and the whole group followed closely behind him. 

Rog watched as his friend left to go and protect their hometown. _"Maybe the council was right Contru…Maybe we should worry about anyone who does come here first, instead of being trusting from the beginning."_ Rog turned and saw everyone just standing around. "What are you all doing, get to work on getting ready for an attack just incase they can't beat them or the group is too large for them to handle all by themselves." Everyone got moving as quickly as possible and got into their positions just in case they were needed. _"Well, we are ready…I just we are not needed for this battle."_

~

"Doggone Cecil, did you really have to make me land the airship that far from the town? I could've landed right next to it so we wouldn't have to walk miles to get there." Cid complained as they started to walk towards Mythrila in the distance. 

"I was thinking of your airship Cid. I had you land there just in case they would have fired on us. I did not think it was wise to get an airship and then to have it get damaged. Do you?" 

Yet again Cid stopped his tirade when Cecil explained his actions. "Well I thank you for that consideration, but still…" Cid trailed off, not finishing his sentence. Cecil led the group as they walked. Cecil still hadn't told them what Baron had said to him, and he didn't plan on it at all. _"What they don't know can't hurt them."_ Cecil looked over his shoulder to make sure that Tellah wasn't having any problems. It was quite the opposite. The old sage seemed better able to handle the walk then Cid was, who was at least five years his younger. The path they had decided to take was taking them into the forest that was south of the town. They had just entered the forest after being on open plains for a few minutes. _"I guess Cid has gone soft because of all the airships."_ Cecil started to laugh out loud. 

"What is so funny Cecil?" Cid asked from behind him. 

"Nothing Cid. Nothing at all." 

"There has to be something. A person just doesn't start laughing at nothing." Cid looked right at Cecil. "Your laughing at me aren't you? What did you say to him y'fossil!?" 

Tellah turned right around and looked Cid right in his eyes. "I have not said a word to him at all since we left the airship, so stop yelling at me! You are the one that needs to understand something here! Just because your this great engineer, it does not give you the right to yell at everyone you run into like you yell at your workers at the castle! You need to learn to respect others before you get hurt!" 

"I need to learn to respect others!? What do you mean? I show everyone the respect they deserve, you just deserve a lot less then most people do!" Cid yelled back to Tellah. 

The two old men stopped walking and were at each other noses'. Cecil wasn't worried about them starting to throw punches because he knew the two men well enough not to resort to that. The two men continued to yell obscenities to each other, unaware of what was going on around them. Cecil was about to break the two of them up, when Yang walked up to him. 

"Cecil, I think that we are being watched." 

Cecil looked directly at Yang and then looked around really quickly. "What do you mean? I don't feel anything." Then, out of nowhere twenty men jumped out from bushes and down from trees that were around the area. Cecil went to draw his sword but realized that each man had a bow and arrows ready to fire as soon as anyone made a move. 

__

"Well maybe my idea of landing far away was bad too." Cecil thought as he raised his arms up along with the rest of his group.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 11

Cecil's arms were up above his head as he looked around at the people who had caught them off guard. All of the faces seemed very young to Cecil. _"All of these people look like they are no older than I am." _Cecil continued to look around and decided he should try to get them out of this position. 

"We mean you no-" 

"Keep your mouth shut! Do not speak until you are spoken to!" One of the people yelled at Cecil. Cecil backed up a little bit at how forceful his words were. 

"This is not a group I would expect to be coming from Baron." Cecil heard an unknown voice say. Cecil looked around, along with everyone in his group. The person, who Cecil thought the voice belonged to at least, walked out from behind a group of trees. The man looked like he was around twenty years of age, with shoulder length, light brown hair. His was about as tall as Cecil was and was about the same build too. He had on a full suit of armor, that Cecil would guess, would be made of mythril. He also had a sword and a knife at his sides as well as a quiver full of arrows on his back. 

"A Monk of Fabul, two old men who seem to hate each other, and some kind of knight who looks pure white. Last time I checked the Captain of the Redwings was a Dragoon." 

"A Dragoon?" Cecil blurted out. All of the bows that were pointing at the group came down on Cecil's body. "I apologize for interrupting you, but I was wondering why you think a Dragoon is now the commander of the Redwings?" 

"Should we shoot him now Captain?" The man shook his head. _"He is the commander here then."_ Cecil thought. 

"No. I shall tell him why I think that. The reason why I think that is because the last time the Redwings were here a Dragoon was the person who seemed to be in charge. That is what I was told at least." The man looked him up and down and a smile spread across his face. "Now that I have answered your question, answer mine. Why have the Redwings returned here to Mythrila?" 

Cecil was completely shocked at this. "I do not know why the Redwings were here the last time, but-" 

"How could you not know if you come in an airship right now?" The man cut him off, looking him right in the eye. "The only airships that are around the world are those that are part of the Redwings of Baron." 

"That is very true, but I have just come from Baron. I am not a member of their army though…not any longer at least." 

The man looked at Cecil right in the face and started to laugh. All the other men started to laugh too, but kept themselves focused on the people in front of them. 

"You expect me to believe that? You say that you were a former knight of Baron, but now you are no longer one, even though you come here on an airship. I am sorry, but I find that hard to believe." 

Cecil nodded his head in agreement. "I can understand that." Cecil looked up at his arms. "May I put my arms down so I can explain." 

The man looked at him, and then nodded his head. Cecil lowered his arms, but purposely kept his hands away from his sword. 

"My name is Cecil Harvey. I was raised in Baron basically by the king himself because my parents were dead. I was the commander of the Redwings…the Dark Knight. I have renounced that evil sword though and now fight against Baron to try to retake the Crystals and also rescue someone whom means very much to me." Cecil finished up and looked at the man, who seemed to be set as a stone right now looking at Cecil. 

"Do you believe him Captain…his story sounds farfetched to me." Cecil looked at the man who just kept looking into his eyes, his searching, green eyes looking right into Cecil's. 

"Yes I believe him…something in me says that he is telling the truth." The man motioned for every to relax their bows. "I am sorry for the misunderstanding, but I have my orders to protect the town from anyone who might hostile." Then he walked up to Cecil and extended his hand. "My name is Contru, Contru Falan." Cecil grabbed his arm and returned the gesture. 

"I am glad that you decided to believe me because it would have been very awkward trying to explain more under that much pressure." 

"You will have to explain everything to me, but not now. That can wait until we are back in the town. Come and follow us." Contru started to walk away and all of the soldiers started to follow. Cecil started to follow as well with Yang, Tellah, and Cid coming up as well. 

Cecil went around the same trees that Contru had and saw him standing next to a chocobo. 

"You rode chocobos all the way here and we still did not hear you at all?" 

"Like I said before Cecil, the two old men were fighting so much I could have killed all of you before you would have even known." Cecil's lack of expression showed that he wasn't surprised. 

"Well I am glad you did not do that." Cecil looked over and saw that the rest of his group was there. "Contru, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Yang, the Monk of Fabul." Yang bowed his head to Contru who returned the gesture. "The man with the wild blue hair is Cid, the airship engineer from Baron." 

"Well it's nice to met you sonny." Cid said from next to Cecil. 

"And last is the Sage Tellah, from Mysidia." Tellah came forward and looked right at Contru. "You have been to Mysidia many times, have you not?" 

"Yes I have Sage Tellah. I am in reality a mythril trader and not a solider. Why do you ask?" 

"I ask because I remember a young boy coming to Mysidia with his father when he would come there to trade materials and goods. You have grown up into a strong man, I can tell." 

"Thank you." Contru turned his attention back to his chocobo, and then handed the reins to another soldier. "Alright men, let us get back to Mythrila." Contru starting walking with Cecil and his group. 

"You are walking Contru?" 

"Yes. I need to talk to the new people I have just met and almost killed five minutes ago." Contru let out a little chuckle that made Cecil laugh. 

"That is very true." 

"Contru," Yang said from behind everyone. "I did not know that Mythrila had an army, when did this fighting force get formed?" 

Contru looked over his shoulder to look at the Monk as he answered his question. "Two days ago." 

"What!?" Cecil shouted with astonishment. "How could you have trained an army to be this good in only two days?" 

"These men that are with me right now are the men who are always with me on my ship when we go out to sea. We might only be traders but we know that there is danger out on the open waters so we all know how to fight. Other men that we have at the town know how to fight well enough, but will never be good enough to ever do with these men just did." 

"I understand now." Cecil said as they continued to walk towards the town. "May I ask you a question Contru?" 

"Yes you may." Contru said while looking around at their surroundings. 

"When the Redwings were here last, did they cause any trouble?" 

"No." Contru said, and turned to look at Cecil. "The only thing that happened was the Dragoon bought a full set of mythril armor and left. That is all." 

"Then why the army to protect the town now?" 

Contru's eyes appeared to fill with rage as he looked at Cecil. "The town Council thought it would be a wise move to make just in case the Redwings did not want to pay next time they wanted mythril or just plain attack us for it. I do not understand their reasoning but I am forced to follow them." 

Cecil nodded his head and looked at the rest of his group. Yang seemed to be talking with one of the other soldiers near him and Tellah seemed to have the attention of a couple of the other soldiers and Cid was just walking along with his wrench still in hand, like he didn't trust anyone here. Cecil turned back around and looked over towards Contru, wondering what he was thinking at this point. 

~

Contru continued to lead them back towards the town and looking around to make sure that this really wasn't a trap. Contru looked over to Cecil who was looking at him and he smiled at him. 

__

"I trust him, but I do not know…something seems off." 

"Is there something wrong Contru?" 

"No." He lied. "Nothing at all. Just making sure that everyone is accounted for." He looked back over towards Cecil. "Have you ever been to Mythrila before Cecil?" 

"I have, but it was a long time ago, like five years ago. The town was just a small mining town with a few people." 

"Well it still is that way. Another person and myself are the only people that have really tried to drive the town into the modern age. My father was the one who actually started the whole trade route that I run every time I go out now. It has really help bring in money to the town because before they would wait until someone came to them to buy the mythril. We still have fairly large stockpiles of it around the town and plenty of mines that have not even been touched yet all in the mountains around us. Some of the miners think that there might be some in the forests as well." 

"You seem to know a lot about the area around here. Born and raised here I take then?" Cecil asked. 

"Yes. Not many come here to live unless they want to get away from the big cities. Anyone that comes here though has to do some kind of work around here. No one is allowed to do nothing. The money that comes in for the sales of mythril pays even people on the Council, so everyone has to earn money to buy anything here." 

"Makes sense. Is your father still involved in trading?" 

Contru shook his head. "No, he stopped about a year ago and handed the ship over to me to continue on. Now he is part of the Council." 

"You have been in charge of the trading for the town for a year?" Cecil asked a little shocked. 

"Yes. He gave it to me when I turned eighteen years old, just like he said he would a long time ago. Why are you so surprised? You were the leader of the most powerful group in the world at age around twenty years of age?" 

Cecil looked right at Contru and stopped his thoughts. "You are right…I guess that should not surprise me as it did." Contru started to laugh as they continued to walk up a small hill. 

"How much further until we reach the town Contru?" Tellah asked as the two people he was talking to went away to join the rest of the soldiers. 

"Just over this hill Tellah and then we will be able to see it. From the top of this hill it will be about another five minutes." Just as he finished that sentence, they reached the peak of the hill and they overlooked the town. Contru signaled for everyone to continue on while he stood there with Cecil, Yang, Tellah, and Cid. 

"I remember that this town was small and looked nice. It looks like a fort now!" Cecil said as they all looked down at the town. The town's wall ran around the outskirts keeping the town locked up nice a tight from anyone. Archers paced across the top of the wall waiting for anyone that might try to attack the town. 

"You did all of this in two days?" Yang asked as his face was just completely surprised. 

"Yes. Everyone around town was helping including the women and children. You have to remember, we have a lot of miners in the town that have not been able to mine, so with all of their help it got done very fast." Yang nodded his head and continued to look down at the city. 

"We should be going, you have a lot to tell us when we get you into the city." Contru said as he started back towards to the city and they started to follow behind. 

Contru was now at the tail end of his group of soldiers that was on its slow march back into town. 

~

Rog was in the command area at the back of the Inn waiting for word from Contru about anything. Rog poked his head out the nearest window to check again to see if anything was going on out there. Rog brought his head back in and sat down in the chair. 

__

"Where is he…he should've been back by now. Contru is not stupid, he knows his limits when it comes to battle." Rog was just about to get up when of the soldiers came in the door. 

"The archers have reported that Captain Contru's group is returning to the town!" Rog got up out of his chair and scrambled up the ladder that came from the roof. When Rog got out there he went towards the edge and could see the group coming back. 

"Commander it seems that they were victorious." Rog looked at him, but grabbed the periscope and started to look out there. 

The first thing that he saw that made him believe that was true was because they were walking in and not running in on the chocobos. It also seemed that they had new people with them. 

"Looks like he has prisoners as well. This is going better than I ever thought it could." Rog placed the periscope back where it always rested and slid down the ladder. Rog got down and grabbed his sword just in case and started for the exit. Rog walked though the hallways of the Inn and tapping people on the shoulder and having them follow him. Rog got outside with seven men behind him and signaled for more people to start following him as he walked towards the gate in and out of town. 

The gate opened up in front of him and the other people started to come in first. _"That's weird, Contru is usually always leading them back wherever they go."_ Rog saw Contru's chocobo come in, but being lead by someone else. 

"Where is Contru?" Rog asked the man when he walked up to him. 

"He is at the back with the people we met." The soldier then walked away to lead Contru's chocobo back to its stable. Rog just had a weird look on his face and didn't know what to do. Rog turned back around to face the gate and as he did saw Contru walk into the gate followed by four men that he had never seen. Rog walked briskly up to his friend with a look of concern on his. 

Before Rog could say anything to Contru though, he saw him coming. Contru motioned for the people to wait there while he walked towards Rog. 

"Contru, why-"

"I have a good reason Rog, I am not stupid." Contru cut off his friend. "They say that they are not part of the Redwings, they took that airship from Baron to help them fight Baron." 

"You believe them!?" Rog blurted out. "They could be lying to you to just get in here, and look what you did! We have to get them out of here before the Council finds out about them-"

"Since when have you been afraid of the Council? Another thing too is that they gave US command of the forces to protect this town. We only have to answer to them if something goes wrong, we have the right to trust anyone we want. I brought them here because if they do try something, they are in the middle of a town filled with men. There is only four of them against a hundred." 

"You seem so sure of yourself Contru. What are you not telling me?" 

Contru looked over towards the four men who were still standing there, waiting. "The old man with the white hair is Sage Tellah from Mysidia. I do not think he would side with anyone evil." 

Rog looked over towards Tellah and searched him up and down. "You are right, it is Tellah. Looks like you did not make a mistake after all." Contru shoved his friend lightly, making him stumble a little bit, but never falling down. "Well, let us go over to them and find out why they are here then." 

~

Cecil waited as he saw Contru and the other man talking, looking over in their direction every so often. Cecil turned to look at his friends to make sure that they didn't feel this was a trap. 

Tellah seemed to be looking around, most likely comparing the town to what it had been before. Yang was very calm and didn't appear to feel anything that could be wrong. Cid just stood there looking at how they had built the walls and anything else that could have to do with engineering. 

Cecil turned to look back at where Contru was and saw him approaching with his friend. Cecil turned and let them know that he was coming back and everyone came closer to avoid causing any problems with people going in or out of the town. 

"Cecil, this is my good friend and second in command of Mythrila's forces, Rog Usurp." Rog extend his arm and shook hands with Cecil. "This is Cecil Harvey of Baron." 

"It is nice to meet you Rog." Cecil then moved a little bit so he could introduce everyone else to Rog. "This here is Yang of Fabul." Yang bowed to Rog who returned the gesture. "Tellah of Mysidia." Tellah nodded to Rog and smiled. 

"I know you as well. The two of you use to cause so much trouble every time you would visit the Elder in Mysidia with your fathers." Rog and Contru both turned a little red at the mention of their raucous youths. 

Cecil laughed a little bit and continued on. "This is Cid, master engineer of Baron." Cid just waved his arm in their direction and continued to look around. 

"Cecil, now that you are in the city I was wondering if you would be willing to explain why you have come here if you are not part of Baron any longer." 

"I would not mind at all. I am willing to answer any question that you have because of the way you have treated us since we gained your trust." 

"Thank you very much Cecil. If you could follow me into the Inn that is where we will discuss everything." Contru and Rog started to head towards the Inn, which was near the back of the town, and they all followed and went inside to hear the long story. 

~

By the time Cecil had finished telling the entire story to Contru and Rog, the sun had started to set behind the mountains to the west, covering the town in darkness that was only broken by the tiny torches and fires around the town. 

Contru sat back in his chair and started to run everything through his head. "Basically, you have to do Golbez's bidding now, correct?" 

Cecil, who had stood the entire time, continued to stand and nodded his head. "Yes. Until I bring the Earth Crystal to him, I have to do whatever he wants because of Rosa." 

Rog lifted his head up after he had rested it for a little bit. "I cannot believe that scum, making you do his dirty work." 

Contru nodded his head, but a thought nagged in his mind. "You say that he has openly taken the rest of the crystals, right?" Cecil nodded. "Then why would he stop now? Something has to be different about this crystal. Is Troia heavily guarded or have strong magical powers?" 

"No. Troia is a peaceful country that has a very small standing army of women. It would be even easier then it was for him to take then it had been for Fabul, which had the second largest army in the world." 

Contru sat there looking right at Cecil, understanding the pain that he must be going through right now. Contru stood up and looked Cecil in his eyes. "I will do what I can to help you." 

Rog shot out of his onto his feet, knocking his chair over. "Contru! What are you doing!? You cannot just do that; we have to worry about Mythrila! The Council will stop you if you try to leave the city!" 

"Do not worry Rog, I was not planning that. What I mean is that they are always welcome to come here and rest and regroup if the need arises, but aside from that, I cannot do anything else." 

"Thank you very much, but I do not want to put you in any kind of trouble. The main reason why I came here was to buy some of your mythril equipment that you sell. You see my sword here is not very good and I could use a quality sword and even better armor." Cecil finished up. 

Contru nodded his head. "That could be taken care of. You will still have to purchase it though because I have no say over the weapons or armor that are sold. How much do you intend on buying?" 

"Everything that all of us need." Contru looked over all of them and gave Cecil a look of pain. 

"That is going to cost you a lot of money I hope you know?" 

Cecil nodded and pulled out a pouch at his side and placed it on the table. "I am prepared. Each one of us is carrying enough for each of us we hope. I do not think Yang or Tellah will need much so they should have plenty of extra to cover the cost of Cid and I." 

"Alright. Well if you like you are more than welcome to stay here the night so you are not leaving so late." 

Cecil shook his head. "No, I do not want Golbez to think I am trying to go against him. I want to be in Troia by the morning. Which way is it to the shops?" 

"I will take you there so everyone knows that you are there with me. Follow me." Contru pushed his chair back in and waited until Cecil and his group was ready to leave and showed them the way out. Contru stayed back with Rog to talk in private. 

"You really think we can trust him Contru?" 

"Yes I do." Contru said looking at the door, then turning to his friend. "I can tell it in his eyes, he is not lying. I just hope that they can save Rosa before any harm befalls her." 

"Yes I agree. I just hope that your kind offer to them Contru, does not come to hurt us in the end." 

"As do I, but we have to try to help as best we can." Contru looked outside and saw it was getting darker out. "I better take them there so they can be to Troia like Cecil wants. Take care of the town while I'm with them, alright?" 

"Not a problem." Contru started to walk out of the room. "Does this mean that we have to be able to know when it's them and not the Redwings coming then?" 

Contru stopped and looked back at Rog. "That is true. I will figure something out while I am with them getting them their armor and weapons." Contru walked out of the room leaving Rog to take care of everything. 

~

Contru walked outside to where Cecil and his group we waiting and walked up to them. "Shall we go shopping?" 

Cecil nodded his head. "Does your weapon shop also sell just sheaths as well?" 

Contru gave Cecil a weird look, but nodded his head. "Yes it does, why do you want to know?" 

"I have another sword that does not have a sheath and I was wondering if I could get one here." Contru shrugged his shoulders and lead them off back behind the Inn to where the shops were located. 

"The weapon shop is the building in the middle while the armor shop is the one to the right of that." Cecil walked towards the weapon shop first and walked in with everyone else is tow. Contru was the last one to enter the shop and saw the scared look on the shopkeeper's face. 

"Do not worry, they are here with me." Cecil went over to where the swords were located and picked one up. Cecil started to play around with it a little bit. Contru walked up besides him and smiled. "How does it feel?" 

Cecil stopped for a little bit and looked at Contru. "It feels good. It has a nice weight balance to it, and I can tell it is very sharp." Cecil continued to move around with the off white blade in his hands. 

"Look at this!" Contru and Cecil looked over towards Cid who was lifting up a mythril hammer that was twice the size of his wooden one. "This is amazing! I could do so much more with this hammer then I could with my old one!" 

Cecil laughed at his friend and put the sword over his shoulder, resting the blade on his shoulder. "Then get it, we should have enough money for everyone here." Cecil looked over and saw that Tellah was already buying something from the shopkeeper. "What did you get over there Tellah?" 

Tellah turned around and was holding a mythril staff in his hand. "This is a much better weapon for me compared to that old wooden one." Tellah walk towards the door as Cid walked over to purchase the hammer. 

Contru turned to Cecil with a smile across his face. "Looks like you have been able to get everything that you need weapon wise. Buy the sword and sheaths and then I will take you over to the armor shop so you can get all of that as well." Cecil nodded and grabbed went to get two sheaths when he saw that Contru was already grabbing them. They walked over to the shopkeeper and placed the items in front of him. 

"One sword and two sheaths. That will be 6,200 Gil." Cecil pulled off his pouch and fished out six large gold coins and two smaller silver coins and placed them on the counter. 

"There you go, and thank you." Cecil tied the pouch back onto his belt and grabbed a sheath and the sword and put it inside of it. Contru grabbed the other sheath and followed Cecil outside of the shop and over to the armor shop. Contru was the first to walk into the shop this time and walked up to the shopkeeper. The rest followed Cecil in and started to look around as Cecil walked up to where Contru was. 

The shopkeeper wasn't as surprised as the other one was, but still didn't seem to like people coming into his store. 

Contru turned to Cecil as he came up. "How many of each will you be needing?" Cecil looked around and saw what was for sale and looked back over to the rest of his group. 

"Tellah, Yang, do you want any of this heavy armor at all?" Cecil asked them. 

"No thanks Cecil, I shall be fine with what I have." Yang said. 

Tellah shook his at Cecil. "The heavy armor will not do me any good while casting magic. An old man like me would most likely die from wearing something like that." Cecil then looked over towards Cid. 

"You sure bet I'll take that armor. I might be strong, but I'm not as young as you are and sure won't be able to move around very quickly so I'll take that protection." 

Cecil turned back to the shopkeeper and started to think of what he wanted. "I will take two of the body armors, two pairs of leg greaves, and two pairs of gauntlets. How much will that be?" 

The shopkeeper did some quick math in his head and then smiled at Cecil. "That will be 43,000 gil please." Cecil looked over to Contru who nodded. 

"That is the right price Cecil, he is not lying to you." Cecil dumped out his bag and asked Cid to come over too. Cid dumped his bag out and with that they had enough to buy everything they needed. 

"How much would you buy all of this armor for?" Cecil asked as the shopkeeper was getting ready to put the money into a bag of his own. The shopkeeper looked him up and down and looked Cecil right in the face, with a large grin. "7,250 gil." 

"I'll take it." Cecil put all of his stuff down and started to undo the armor as Cid and Contru helped. After a little bit the entire set of armor was off and Cecil was putting it on the counter. Cecil then went and got his new armor and Cid and he started to put it on. 

"Well that looks very good on the two of you." Contru said after they both had finished up. Cecil had all the off-white armor on him as did Cid, but Cid looked like he was ready to fall over. 

"This sure is going to take some getting used to here, but I should be okay." Cid started to walk off, carrying the hammer over his shoulder. 

Contru lead them all outside and went over toward where the stables were. He came out with his chocobo in tow and then four other men came out with two chocobos each. 

"My men and I will take you back to your ship so it does not take as long so you can be on your way to Troia." Cecil started to reject him, but Contru stopped him. "You are going to take the chocobos weather you like it or not. This will be the fastest and easiest way for you to get back. Besides there is still a lot I need to talk to you about." 

Cecil nodded his head. "Thank you very much." Cecil and his group each started to head over towards a chocobo and got on and Contru and his men lead them out of the town.

~

Contru and Cecil stayed near the end of the chocobo parade that was on its way towards the airship. 

"Cecil, remember that my offer is always standing." 

Cecil nodded his head. "I know and you have been a really good friend already, but I cannot put this small little town in danger. Where ever I go there is always trouble to follow me." 

"Do not worry, my men and I will do our best to ensure the town stays safe. If someone tries to attack us, they shall meet up with more than they thought." Contru looked over at Cecil and gave him a grin that made him seem like a king going into battle and was sure to win. Cecil turned to look around at the surroundings and saw the beauty that was all around him. 

"Living here would be great." Cecil mumbled under his breath. 

"It is great." Contru said. Cecil looked at him and just got a smile in return with a wink. "Cecil if you were to return, how could we tell the difference between your airship and the Redwings?" 

Cecil turned to face the young man and gave him a long look. "Well the first thing is that it is not the same color of the Redwings." 

"That is true, but that is very easy to fake. We need some sort of signal." Contru stopped to think what they could do. "Maybe you could fire your cannons off to the side twice and that will be signal. Fire them when you first see some of those islands that have the guard towers on them like I told you about." 

"I think that should work out. Cid will just have to deal with losing two cannon balls." Cecil started to laugh and turned his head towards the engineer. Cid wasn't even paying any attention at all; he was more concerned about staying balanced on his chocobo. 

The group kept on moving in its line and soon after rounding some groups of trees and bushed on the top of a low hill, they saw the airship. Contru and his men were awestruck as they got closer to it and could see how big it truly was. 

"Baron has a whole fleet of these?" Contru asked as they stopped and started to dismount. 

"They did, until Golbez took them all. Now Baron is a kingdom without a King and a small army." Cecil's eyes seem to be on fire with a rage that would not be quenched until he got to Golbez. Cecil broke away from his train of thoughts and looked over at Contru. "I want to thank you for your hospitality that you have shown us. You will always have a friend in me." 

"Me as well." Yang said as he came up behind Cecil. "If you ever need any help Contru, do not fear to call on the aide of Fabul. Let them know Yang told you to and they will do what they can." 

"Thank you very much Yang. If Mythrila needs help, I shall call upon Fabul." Yang bowed his head and Contru did the same. Yang turned and started to head towards the airship as Tellah walked up to them. 

"You sure have become a good man from the bratty little boy you were all those years ago. Take care." Tellah then turned and walked away. 

Cecil and Contru stared at Tellah in wonder until he entered the airship and was gone from view. The airship then started up and the propellers on top started to slowly turn. As they slowly gained speed, the wind that they made started to pick up and the noise started to drown out everything. 

"Cecil, take care now and find Rosa!" Contru tried to yell over the noise that was still building. Cecil nodded his head and extended his hand. Contru clasped it firmly and after a second Cecil turned around and started to run towards the airship. Cecil went inside and soon afterward closed the entrance up and the airship started to take off. After a few seconds the airship was moving quickly up into the setting sky and started out northeast towards where Troia was located. 

Contru waited there until his men had the chocobos under control again and the airship was just a speck on the sky. 

"Well let us return to Mythrila and get some rest after this long day." Contru mounted his chocobo and grabbed the reins of another chocobo and started off towards home. _"I hope they are able to do what they need to do…"_ Contru thought as the trek back to town began. 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 12

After Cecil got on the airship the first thing he did was head to where his bed was to place the Ancient sword into the sheath that he had just bought and take the Legend off his hip. Cecil got into his room and shut the door quickly behind him. Then he went and reached under the bed and found the Ancient right where he had left it. Cecil took off the cloth from around it and placed it on the bed and grabbed the sheath. Cecil grabbed the extra sheath and placed the sword inside of it. Cecil placed it in his right hand and out of the corner of his eye noticed something on the bottom the hilt. Cecil looked closer at it and it seemed to be some kind of name on it. It was in very small print but Cecil could barely make it out. 

"Kokkol." Cecil looked back up from the name and started to think about the name. "I've never heard of any Baron King being name Kokkol…maybe that is the sword smith…" Cecil put it out of his mind and placed the sword under the bed again so no one would find it. Cecil then undid the Legend from his hip and leaned that against the wall. Cecil sat down in the chair that was at the desk in there and just started to relax. Cecil started to think about the recent events in his life and how bad he felt. His thoughts started to linger to Rosa and times when they had been happy. Cecil could almost see Rosa's smiling face in front of him and hear her sweet laugh fill his ears. Then Cecil came back to reality and just saw an empty wall in front of him. Cecil decided it would be best to talk to Cid about the airship piloting and to let him know he would take over flying the ship about halfway through so Cid could get some rest. As Cecil turned to leave his eyes fell upon the Legend. Cecil bent over and pick up the sword while still sheath and just looked at it. 

As he looked at it, he noticed that the hilt had something written on it also. Cecil looked and saw the same name there, Kokkol. Cecil placed the sword back against the wall and sat back down, lost in his thoughts. 

"How is it that I have two sword done by the sword smith…one sword is a royal sword of Baron and the other I have given to me by some voice that called me it's son…what is going on?" Cecil sat there and thought for a little bit more before finally breaking out of his thoughts to get up and talk to Cid. 

~

Cecil went up and deck and found Cid at the wheel and Tellah and Yang talking. Cecil walked up behind to the two of them and over heard the very end of the conversation. 

"I think we should've stayed at Mythrila and slept in nice beds in that warm in, but instead we are flying to Troia in the middle of the night." Tellah said to Yang, who didn't really seem to be listening to the old sage. 

Cecil walked right up behind Tellah, where he couldn't see him. "There are beds on this airship Tellah and the interior is nice and warm compared to out here." Tellah turned around shocked and just looked right at Cecil. Yang just had a smile across his face as Tellah walked down below deck, mumbling something and youth and their elders. 

Cecil turned to Yang who was still standing there looking the over the edge of the ship, into the blackness that had spread over the sky. "I think you should get some rest as well Yang. We are going to most likely have a long day tomorrow so any rest we can get now would be for the best." 

"You need some rest too my friend, in fact, I believe you need it more than I do." Yang smiled at his friend. 

"Do not worry about that. I do intend on resting, but I need to let Cid know I will take over for him later on so he can rest. Now go inside and get some sleep, I will be down shortly, I promise." Yang looked at Cecil, but finally nodded his head and turned for the door to the underside of the ship. 

Cecil started to walk over to Cid and gust of wind came up onto the deck. Cecil could feel goose bumps appear all over his skin as he continued to walk. Cecil could never understand how Yang could walk around wearing almost no shirt like he always did; he just didn't understand it. 

"Cecil you should get inside. I'll be fine out here." 

"Trust me Cid, I plan on it very soon. I just came out here to till you I will take over in about two hours, then you can get some sleep as well alright?" 

"Ah don't bother. I'll be fine." 

"Cid, I am going to make you get some sleep tonight, even if I have to knock you out I will, understand?" 

Cid rubbed his chin and smiled at Cecil. "Yeah I got you, now get your butt back under the deck and get some rest." Cecil nodded and turned around and went into the door that led under the deck. 

~

Cecil crawled onto the bed and lay there, still with his armor on. Cecil could feel all of the little energy he had left drain out of him when he hit the bed. He didn't care if he was uncomfortable with his armor on him; he knew that he would find sleep quick enough and not notice anything. Cecil closed his eyes and could feel himself start to fall into a troubled sleep. 

~

Cecil opened his eyes and found himself in front of a castle, or at least the ruins of one. Cecil started to look around at it and noticed features that he knew. There were ruins of two towers on the east and west sides of the castle. The main part of castle was in the middle that ran towards the back. From the breaks in the walls Cecil could see that there were two courtyards, one on the west side, one on the east side. 

Cecil started to walk forward through the gate that led into the castle. As soon as he stepped into the first door Cecil knew what he was looking at. This was Baron castle. 

The castle was barely standing. Anything that had been standing above the ground floor was gone. The air smelled like decaying flesh as well as rotting meat. It burned his nostrils. Cecil had to cover his nose with his hand to help deal with the smell. Even with the smell covered Cecil still had to look at all of the blood that was covering the walls. Cecil kept on walking through the halls, hoping he could escape all the death that seemed to have happened here. Cecil went though the gate that led into the main part of the castle. As he walked in he saw what looked like some sort of barricade that had been knocked down by a lot of force. Cecil turned his attention to the room and saw a horrible sight. There were dead bodies lying al over the floor. Many of them had organs hanging out of them or were missing limbs, or even worse, heads. Cecil kept his stomach under control, but it was very difficult. Cecil slowly walked past all the death that covered the floor and continued on his way. 

As Cecil walked away he could hear his feet making noises in the blood that was covering the floor. He turned around and could see the blood slowly covering up where his feet had been before. Cecil continued onward and through another door. There was barricade behind this door but there was still just as much death in here as the pervious room. Cecil stopped and looked in front of him and could see where the door to the throne room was. The door had been ripped off its hinges and thrown back into this room. Cecil could barely see the door that was going into the throne room. Cecil started to walk forward towards the room. Cecil didn't even notice, but the door to the throne room seemed to be intact and was closed as well. Cecil slowly walked up to it and pushed it open. 

As the door started to open light started to come through the crack and filled the room with a bright, gold light. Cecil covered his eyes and slowly walked forward into the light. Cecil kept his eyes covered until he knew he was all the way inside the room and then started to move his arm away from his eyes. What Cecil saw shocked him. Where the throne was supposed to be in the room, was replaced with a sword sticking out of a stone. Cecil came to the conclusion that the sword was the source of the light. Cecil walked closer to the sword and started to examine it. 

It seemed to look a lot the Ancient, but not exactly like it. The sword seemed to have a little bit bigger of a handle and the blade seemed to be different as well. Cecil then decided to look at the hilt to see if he could see that name on it. Cecil found the spot that both the Ancient and Legend had the mark on the sword. Cecil looked at it and was confused. The mark was different, but it was the exact same name, Kokkol. 

Cecil started to look at it even more and reached his hand out. Cecil touched it and nothing happened to him. He then wrapped his hand around the hilt and could feel a power flowing through him. Cecil just stood there, felling the power flow through when he heard something coming. The wall to the left of Cecil crashed down as a dragon stuck his head through it. Cecil on reflex grabbed hold of the sword and pulled it right out of the stone and jumped backwards. 

The dragon lunged forward towards Cecil and knocked him against the wall, making Cecil drop the sword. The dragon then reared its head back and when it brought it back forward launched a fireball at Cecil. 

Cecil was frozen in shock and the fireball kept getting closer and closer until it was only a few feet from him. Cecil started to scream and closed his eyes, as it was about to hit him. 

~

Cecil's eyes shot open and he sat up in his bed. Cecil could feel sweat rolling down his back and his chest. Cecil was breathing heavily and his heart was beating fast. Cecil ran his hands through his hair and then down his face to try to get rid of some of the sweat. Cecil pulled his hands away from his face and could see them shaking violently. Cecil placed his hands down on the bed and started to breathe deeply to try to calm himself down. Cecil looked around the room and saw the shadows start to move around on the floor of his room as the airship moved around the night sky. Cecil felt that he was finally calm enough so he decided to go and relieve Cid. 

Cecil grabbed a cloak that was in the closet and put it on for some added warmth out there. After making sure it was on as tight as he could, Cecil left his room and headed outside. 

As soon as he got outside he regretted it. The wind was blowing right across the ship's deck making it very hard to stand out there without getting cold at all. Cecil walked up to the wheel where Cid was fighting with it a lot. 

"Cid, you take some rest now." Cecil said when he was close enough for Cid to hear him. 

Cid looked at Cecil and nodded. "It's a very strong wind tonight, you'll get a good work out." Cid held the wheel tight while Cecil grabbed a hold of it. Cid then let go of it. 

Cid was right about the wind because the ship was trying to the same way that the wind was. Cecil had to hold onto the wheel tight and had correct the course very often. 

"Ya gonna be okay Cecil?" 

"Yeah, I will be fine Cid. Get some rest." Cid nodded and turned around and quickly headed inside the ship. 

Cecil stood there, fighting the ship all alone in the cold wind. His thoughts started to drift to that dream he had. 

__

"What was all of that?" Cecil started to think in his head. He knew that it had to be Baron but why was it like that. The thing that puzzled Cecil most though was the sword that was there. _"Why did that sword have the same name on it, but in a different style?"_ Cecil was very worried that at this very moment that Baron was being turned into that, a smoldering wasteland. 

Cecil could picture the town burning outside of the castle as it was under siege. He could see all the arrows flying over the castle walls and the Red Wings attacking from the sky with their cannons. Cecil could also see Golbez's evil smile, laughing at the misfortune of all the people of the castle, killing everyone he saw, and sparing no one. 

Cecil was dragged back to the real world as he almost lost control of the ship. Cecil just stared straight ahead, wondering what exactly was going on around him. 

"I need Rosa." Cecil said aloud to no one. Cecil had always needed her. She had always been the one that had helped him when he was down. Her and Cecil had always had that bond to each other that made them inseparable. Cecil knew that he if he lost Rosa, that he would no longer be the same man anymore. 

"I have to save her…I will save her!" Cecil said, his confidence going again. "I will find you Rosa and when I do, I will make sure we are never separated again." Cecil set himself upon that purpose because with a purpose, he could fight against anything until it was done. 

Cecil stayed at the wheel until he was able to see Troia before him. Cecil thought of waking Cid but thought he could handle landing the ship well enough. Cecil came closer to the town and saw that it was all secure this late at night and the castle was dark with only a few torches lit around to put some light across the landscape. 

The are around Troia was forests because of the Earth Crystal the nation kept. They were able to channel the power of the crystal to make the ground lush and beautiful. A Troian legend had said that before the crystal had come here, it was a vast desert like the area that was around Damcyan. Cecil didn't know it for a fact but he had heard much more farfetched things in his life. 

Cecil looked around for a good spot and found one that was near the town but not to close that would draw any attention to them. Cecil stopped the ship's forward movement with a lever to his right and the ship just started to hover in the air. Cecil slowly started to pull down another lever, on his left, very slowly and the ship started to move in a downward motion as the engines started to slow down a little bit. Cecil kept it going slowly until he could start to see some of the trees sticking over the ship. 

Cecil reached to his right and pulled another lever that made the landing gear come out so it would settle flat. Cecil then slowly kept it going downward until he feel the ship start to distribute its weight across the ground. He pulled the lever down the rest of the way and felt the ship shake a little bit as the weight was all put on the ground. 

Cecil then went to another lever that was a few feet away from the wheel and pulled it down to shut off the engines. Cecil could hear the noise start to decrease as the engines powered down. 

"I think I will go and get some more rest, sure do need it." Cecil started to walk towards the door that led below deck when the ship started to shake. Cecil grabbed hold of a handrail as the ship started to move slowly backwards. Cecil grabbed on tighter as the ship continued to move on its slow course backwards. 

Cecil had his eyes close, expecting to go right into the forest that was around him when the moving stopped. Cecil opened one of his eyes to make sure it had stopped moving. It indeed had. Cecil let go of the handrail and started to move towards the front of the ship to see why the ship had done that. 

When he go to the front of the ship he saw what had happened. Cecil had parked the ship on a shallow hill and because of all the weight of the engines, it had slid backwards down it until it came to a rest at the bottom. Cecil just started to laugh to himself. 

"Well, least I did not have it fall off a cliff." Cecil continued to laugh as he walked back inside the ship and into his room. Cecil fell down upon his bed and fell asleep to a restful nap. 

~

Cecil's eyes opened up as sunlight seeped through his window. Cecil rolled onto his back and fell down in his armor a little bit. He had it on the entire time he had slept. Cecil sat up and stretched his arms above his head to get all the stiffness out. 

Cecil got out of bed and started to move around to make sure that he was ready to go for what was going to face him today. Cecil grabbed his mythril sword and placed it on his hip on his left side and headed toward the deck. 

Cecil opened up the door and felt a warmth breeze blowing onto him. Cecil stepped out into the sunshine and felt it's warmth fill him up. Cecil felt ready for today, for whatever might be awaiting him. 

"CECIL!" Cecil stopped dead in his tracks when he heard his name yelled. Cecil turned in the direction that the voice had come from and saw a furious Cid looking down at him. 

"Morning Cid." Cecil smiled and waved to the engineer. 

"Why is there a track going from the top of that ridge to down here!?" 

"Well when I landed the ship last night I did not realize I was landing on a shallow hill. The ship seems to be fine so let us just forget about it, alright?" 

"Why should I forget about it!? What if that gill had lead off a cliff!? What would've happened then!?" 

"We would have died Cid, but that did not happen, so can we move on and forget about it? We have a lot to do today so I would like to get started as soon as possible." Cecil stood there looking at Cid, who looked like he was ready to throw his wrench at him. 

"Fine, but next time, I'm landing the airship!" Cid went turned around and went storming off to get all the rest of his things. 

Cecil walked towards the edge of the deck and saw Yang outside the ship already. Cecil rested his arms on the railing and started to watch Yang as he was working out. Cecil had learned that Yang did this everyone morning to prepare for his days. Cecil also heard that the monk would spend time just sitting peacefully and completely quiet. 

__

"Maybe I should ask Yang how he does that so I can stay as focused as he does at times." Cecil stopped watching Yang and turned around to head out of the ship. 

Cecil walked inside the ship and saw Tellah heading out as well. 

"We almost ready to leave Cecil?" 

"We will be leaving shortly. Do you know where Cid is?" 

"I'm right behind you. Now let's get going so we can get Rosa back safely." 

"Alright, let us go." Cecil led the three of them out of the ship and waited until Cid had everything secure and ready to go so no one could get inside of the airship. 

Cecil went to the front of the ship to get Yang, who was still doing his workout. 

"Yang, we are ready to head into the town." 

Yang stopped mid kick and looked over at Cecil. "Good. Let us get Rosa then." Cecil nodded his head and turned around to maker sure everyone else was with them. Tellah and Cid were just walking up behind him. 

"You two ready to go?" They both nodded and Cecil turned his head towards the direction of Troia. "Let us go and get the Earth Crystal then." Cecil started up the small hill and onto a path that went right to town. 

~

Cecil led the group out of the forest path and into plain view of the town. The town was much like any town outside a castle. It had numerous markets selling goods to anyone that came through and to the townsfolk. Cecil didn't really care about the town too much because he was heading right for the castle. 

Cecil walked through the small arch that was decorated with many roses and other plants that grew in the Troia area. Cecil continued on with everyone else behind him and towards the gates of the castle. 

Cecil saw the usual male guards at the door but knew that they did that for a shocking affect. The entire army was filled with women and only the castle guards were men. Troia had not been in a war for a long time so no one had any idea how well the army would do. 

Cecil slowed as he approached the guards at the door and they gave him stern hard looks. The rest of his group stopped behind him and they just continued to look at them all. 

Cecil cleared his throat and approached the guards. "Would it be possible for us to see the Clerics of Troia?" 

"Do they know you are coming?" The one on the right said in a gruff voice with very stern, forceful words. 

"No, they do not but it very important, I must them if I can." 

"Is it regarding the Crystal?" The one on the left asked in a voice even rougher than the other one. 

Cecil took a step back in shock. After a moment he composed himself and spoke again. "Yes, how did you know?"

"You may enter." The one on the right said. He then hit his spear against the door three times and it slowly opened up. Cecil gave the guards strange looks but he was waved in by both of them so they went inside the castle. 

Cecil was amazed at how the inside looked. The entire castle had plenty of roses and other plants all around. The courtyard was just filled up with any kind of plant that Cecil could have ever thought of. All over the walls of the castle were ivy vines that climbed up to very top of the castle's towers. On the ivy were roses, daises, tulips, heathers, sunflowers, and many others that Cecil couldn't identify. The courtyard itself was a flowerbed except for the small path that ran up the castle. There was not a blade of grass anywhere to be seen and the air had a perfume smell. Cecil felt that anyone that came here would forget anything that was wrong with him or her and lay around here all day long in the bright warm light. 

"This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen." Yang said as he looked around the courtyard. Everyone else seemed to be in the same shock that Yang was in about the courtyard. 

"It has to be because of the Earth Crystal that they are able to have all of this here in this courtyard. It is amazing though, but we must be on and talk to the clerics." Cecil reminded them as they all came out of their trances. 

Cecil started towards the next door that lead into the castle and walked right in without any trouble. Cecil continued onward and came up to the Minister of Troia, who was also a woman. 

"Are you here about the Crystal?" The woman asked as Cecil came closer. 

Cecil stopped walking and just looked at her, with a look surprise going across his face. "Yes, but how did you know? Did-" Before Cecil could say another word though the Minister starting pushing him towards the room where the Eight Clerics met. Cecil tried to stop the woman but had no luck and was pushed inside the door and the rest of his group quickly followed him inside to meet with the Clerics. 

The Minister stopped pushing Cecil and walked up towards the Clerics. "I bring you people that have come to help us reclaim the Earth Crystal."

__

"Reclaim the Crystal?" Cecil thought in his head. All the Clerics turned away from each other and looked over towards Cecil and everyone else. They all quickly returned to their seats and dismissed the Minister. All of the Clerics were sisters that had ruled the nation of Troia. They all had little past shoulder length brown hair and were all wearing the exact same purple colored robes with gold running along the seams. Each one had faces that were different yet at the same time very similar to one another. Cecil had heard that each had been sent to different parts of the world when they were younger to learn about everything possible. The idea was so that when their time came to rule, they would be ready for anything that might come up with foreign affairs or even knew how an enemy might attack them. 

As the Minister left she closed the door behind her; Cecil went to say something when all of the Clerics started talking to Cecil at once. 

Cecil couldn't understand a word that was being said because they were all trying to talk over each other. 

"Please stop talking!" Cecil yelled covering his ears. When the noise had quieted down, he started to talk. "I am very sorry for doing that but it was impossible to understand a word you were saying. Now please, one at a time." 

"That bleeping Dark Elf stole our Earth Crystal!" The Cleric on the far left said. 

"The Crystal was stolen!" Cecil yelled out loud. _"That must be by why Golbez wants me to get it…"_

The Cleric that sat fourth in line from the left stood up and nodded her head. "Yes and without the Crystal, Troia might become a wasteland again!" 

The last Cleric on the right put her face into her hand and shook her head. "We have govern Troia for years with the blessing of the Earth Crystal, but now..." She just trailed off, leaving her head in her hand. 

"Where is this Dark Elf at?" Cecil asked the Clerics that seemed to be ready to give up all hope but when he said that, some of their head started to pop up and look at him. 

The third Cleric on the left stood up and nodded her head. "If y'all be lookin' fer the Dark Elf, go to the cavern on northwest island." She said with a smile starting to go across her face. 

Cecil did a slight bow and came back up. "I will return with the Crystal." Cecil went to turn around but heard the Clerics all start talking again. When he turned looked back at them they all stopped talking and the second Cleric on the left stepped forward a little bit. 

"Equipping anything metallic inside the northwest cavern will hamper your movements." 

"What!?" Cecil exclaimed. 

The fifth Cleric from the left stepped forward and nodded her head. "The Dark Elf is weak against metallic weapons. To protect himself from them, he set up a magnetic field around the northwest cavern." 

Cecil stood there thinking of what could be done about this situation. Cecil knew that he couldn't bring anything that he had on him right now but he knew he could fight well enough with a bow and arrow. 

The Cleric that was seventh on the right stood up and walked right to Cecil, placing her hands on his arms. "We could consider lending the Earth Crystal to you if you can reclaim it…"She trailed off and returned to seat, looking like she was ready to cry. 

Cecil turned to address all of the Clerics at once and cleared his voice. "If she speaks the truth about letting me borrow the Crystal for a short while I will do what you want me to, but only if I will be able to borrow the Crystal." Cecil hating doing that to the Clerics but he needed to make sure he could save Rosa. 

The Cleric that sat to the right of one that had spoken to Cecil stood. "If you can recover the Crystal, we will allow you to borrow it. Please speak to us once you obtain it though." She sat back down and all of the Clerics were looking at Cecil waiting for his answer. 

Cecil did a deep bow this time and while he was still bowed spoke. "I will recover the Earth Crystal and return here before I use it for my purposes." Cecil ended his bow and stood up and turned around, making his cloak fly around his body and started to walk out. As he did he could hear the Clerics start celebrating the short return of the Earth Crystal. 

__

"Now, if I can do it is the big question…" Cecil thought as he slowly walked out of the Clerics chamber. 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 13

Cecil and everyone else cleared out of the chamber and heard the door shut behind them. 

"So Cecil, we're gonna go into this cave and get the Crystal?" Cid asked giving Cecil a strange look. 

"We have no choice Cid. If we do not, then we will not be able to save Rosa." Cid just looked at the Paladin and Cecil and nodded. 

"I guess you're right there…" 

"Cecil, this cavern will be a problem for you and Cid, will it not?" Tellah asked as they stood at the entrance of the Chamber talking. 

"Yes. Cid and I will need new weapons and armor. Look like we will have to go into town after all." 

"Why should we go into town, we could just take the airship to get back to Baron and get everything we need there." Cid said to the group. 

"I would like to do that Cid but I do not want to waste anymore time, whatever Troia has will be fine." Cecil went to start walking towards the door out of the castle but there were a lot of people in the entrance hall and Cecil could not see a way through it all. Cecil looked and saw that the path towards the right of the throne room was clear. Cecil signaled everyone to head in that direction and they all followed. Cecil walked through the door and found himself outside, but in a courtyard that was cut off from the exit of the castle. 

"Looks like this way will not work Cecil, should we go back inside and see if we can work our way through that crowd?" Yang asked as Cecil stood there thinking. 

"No, let us see if this can get us out of the castle." Cecil peeked his head around the wall that was right next to him and saw a pathway heading towards the back of the castle. Cecil took the path towards the back and found a door. "I found a door!" Cecil shouted to everyone who was still waiting. Cecil waited until Yang, Tellah, and Cid had reached him. Cecil opened up the door and walked in. 

All that Cecil saw was a wall that had an opening in it on the right. Cecil walked around the wall and found out where he was. Cecil saw a bed in the room, but it wasn't a chamber for the Clerics, it seemed to be a place they put the sick or injured. Cecil looked over at the bed and saw that someone was in it. Cecil thought he recognized the person in the bed. Then it dawned on him. 

"Edward!" Cecil ran up to the right side and Yang cam up on the other side of the bed. Cid went and stood next to Yang and Tellah stood at the head of the bed looking down at Edward. 

Edward's eyes started to open and he looked over towards Cecil. "Cecil…?" Edward saw, trying to focus his eyes. "You look so different…so radiant." Edward started to move around, like he was ready to get out of the bed. "I wish to join you again." 

Tellah made a noise under his breath and looked down hard at Edward, folding his arms across his chest with his staff under his arms, against his chest. "You will only burden us!" 

Edward turned his head around to look at Tellah. "Tellah…I cannot begin to ask for your forgiveness. Anna died because of me." Tellah just stayed looking at Edward, not saying a word. 

"I can never atone for that." Edward's face went from a happy gleam to a sullen, dull look. 

"Edward, think only of your health for now." Yang said, trying to brighten the mood. 

Edward turned over to Yang and a smile came on his face again. "Yang…so, we all survived. Where is Rydia?" Edward started to look around, trying to see if he could find where she was. 

"When I went after her Edward, I saw Rydia swallowed by Leviathan…" 

Edward put his head down into his hands. "No!! She didn't!?…I feel so worthless…" Edward seemed like he was ready to cry. 

"The air's sure getting' heavy, c'mon, get your hearts up! We can rise above anything with my Enterprise!" Cid said, trying to get everyone focused on the mission. 

Edward lifted his head and looked towards Cid. "You must be Cid, the airship engineer…Wait, that means you now command an airship." Edward turned to Cecil. "Cecil, whatever became of Rosa!?" 

"Golbez proposed a trade: Troia's Crystal for Rosa's return. The only problem is the Crystal lies in the hands of the Dark Elf." 

Edward's face went to a look of terror and just stared there at Cecil. "Dark Elf…Cecil, pray take this." Edward reached down to his left and pulled out something from under his bed. The object that Edward handed to Cecil was a Harp. It was very small though and not much bigger than Cecil's hand was. 

Cecil looked at the object completely shocked and didn't know what to think. "What is it?" 

Edward just looked at Cecil. "…My substitute. Cecil, please save Rosa." Edward went to get up but wasn't able to. The Doctor walked up to Cecil. 

"He has had enough excitement for the day. He needs some rest now." Cecil nodded his head and turned around and headed back outside the door. Cecil walked back into the entrance hall and saw that the crowd had dimmed down and was easily able to walk out of the castle. 

Cecil held the harp in his right hand, looking at it trying to figure what Edward could mean by it 'being his replacement.' Cecil turned around and saw that everyone was behind him and was waiting for him to start moving. Cecil pulled his pouch from his side and was able to fit the harp in there and turned to everyone. 

"Let us head into town and get Cid and I some new armor that we can wear in that cave and then we will head off to it." 

Everyone nodded their heads as they started to walk back towards town. Yang walked up along side of Cecil. 

"Cecil, this cavern is to the northwest correct?" 

"Yes, that is what the Clerics said, why do you ask?" 

"I was thinking that while you and Cid are getting new weapons and armor that I could start asking around town about ways of getting there and also seeing if our airship could land there." 

Cecil nodded his head. "I think if I remember correctly from flying over that island that there is not a place large enough to land the airship." 

"Not enough space to land the airship!" Cid exclaimed from behind Cecil. "How do you intend on getting there then!?" Cid asked the Paladin as they started to enter the town from the rear. 

Cecil stopped walked and just pointed to a building. The building on the outside said Chocobos and was only a story tall, but seem to take up a large surface area in the town. Cid turned and looked at Cecil. 

"Chocobos!?" 

Cecil nodded his head. "Yes, Chocobos. Black chocobos have the ability to fly, we will just see if we can borrow four of them to fly to that island and then return them when we are done. Yang, go and ask around still about the island and Tellah, go with him all right. Cid and I will get the weapons and armor we need as quickly as possible so meet us in the tavern." Yang and Tellah nodded and headed off towards the tavern to start asking people because that's where all the information in a town came from. 

Cecil headed off towards his left, which is where he believed he remembered where the shops were. Cid followed closely behind with no idea where any thing was. This was the first time in a while that Cid had been out of Baron and the last time he had been, the world was much different than it was now. 

Cecil worked his way over a semi busy bridge and found that he was close to the entrance of town. Cecil looked to his right and saw that he was next to the shop. 

"Did you find it yet Cecil?" Cid asked looking around trying to figure out where he was in the town. 

"Yes I have." Cecil turned and walked right towards the small white, one story building and saw the windows filled with arrows and bows and much other stuff for weapons and armor. Cecil first walked into the weapons shop to figure out what he could use. 

Cecil started to look around and the first thing that caught his eye was the bows they had here. Cecil picked up the one that the owner had out for demonstrations and pulled back on the line. Cecil could feel the resistance in the bow and could tell that it was quality made. 

"You have a good eye there. That bow was hand made and very well done."

Cecil nodded and turned to the shopkeeper. "I can tell. How much would this bow cost with two quivers of arrows?" 

"That would be 3000 gil." 

Cecil reached down and grabbed his pouch and gave the shopkeeper the correct amount. Cecil put his pouch on his hip again and turned to Cid. "Are you going to get anything?" 

Cid shook his head. "No, I've still got my wooden hammer back at the airship so I can just get that there." Cecil got his things, thanked the shopkeeper, and then walked outside and right next door to the armor shop. 

Cecil stepped inside and saw everything the he would need. There was a huge assortment of leather products. Cecil turned his head to Cid who was looking around at some of the things that were on the walls. 

"Do you think Yang and Tellah will be needed anything?" 

Cid stopped and looked at Cecil. "Does Tellah still have that wooden staff he use to have before buying that mythril one?" 

"I do not think he sold it. I will buy one just in case he did so he can have one." That would mean stopping back by the weapon's shop but it didn't matter to Cecil. Cid and Cecil started to grab what they needed and then paid for it all as well. Both of their arms were full but they were still able to stop at the weapon shop and buy the staff. 

Cecil and Cid then went into the tavern and found Tellah and Yang waiting there. Yang saw that they were both carrying a lot of items and got up to help them. 

"How did the questioning go Yang?" Cecil asked as Yang took a couple of the things from his hands. 

"Not good at all. No one seems to know about the island at all and I found out some even worse news." 

"What did you hear?" Cecil asked Yang, concerned. 

"The black chocobos that are here in the town can no longer fly." 

Cecil almost dropped what he was carrying, but Yang continued on. "There is a forest north of here that has chocobos that still can fly so we could go there, capture some wild ones and have those fly us to the cavern." 

Cecil let out a sigh of relief as he sat down. "That is good. You had me very worried for a little bit there." 

"What is the staff for Cecil, is that what you are going to use in the cave?" Tellah asked. 

"No, we bought it just in case you had sold your other one because with the cave not allowing metal, that mythril staff will not be good to take in there." 

Tellah looked at the staff he was holding and looked back at Cecil. "I understand. I did sell the other one so it is a good thing you picked that up. When should we go then?" 

"As soon as everyone is ready to, we will head to the airship first and then head off to that chocobo forest." Cecil looked to everyone. "Ready to go?" 

Everyone showed some sign that they were ready. Cecil grabbed what he could in his hands, as did Cid and Yang while Tellah took the wooden staff and carried it with his other one. They left the tavern and then went out the front of the town back to the airship. 

~

Contru was finishing up the reports from yesterday when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." He said in a monotone voice. 

The door opened up and Rog walked in, looking like he was hiding something behind his back. He shut the door very quickly and faced Contru, never showing what he was hiding. 

Contru gave his friend a strange look as he continued to take care of the papers. "Is there something that is behind your back that should not be there?" Contru asked, not even looking up from the papers in front of him. 

"It is just something we shouldn't have in the middle of the day." Rog pulled from behind his back a large bottle of Baron ale and two mugs. Contru almost dropped the papers when he saw it. 

"Just how did you get a hold of that?" Contru asked putting the papers in a safe place. 

"A ship came in earlier and it was carrying a lot of it. I bought a few bottles and came over here with one." Rog put the mugs down and placed the bottle on the table and pulled out the cork. Rog then poured both mugs filled to the brim, picked up each one and headed one to Contru. "Drink up." 

"Rog we really should not be doing this, we are in charge after all…" 

"Come on, when has that stopped you before?" Rog gave Contru his normal big smile. 

"All right." Contru grabbed the mug and took a big gulp of the ale. Contru put the mug down and sat back in the chair. "Have not had ale that good in a long time." Contru continued relaxing in his chair and Rog pulled one up to the desk as well. 

"How goes all of those reports and such Contru?" Rog asked mockingly. 

"Funny. They are all done matter of fact, and now I do not have to worry about them the rest of the day. I intend on dropping them off at the Mayor's house before I get some dinner from home." Contru took another drink of the ale and when he brought his mug down, saw Rog filling up his already. "Take it easy there, you have patrol later on and I am not going to do it for you tonight." 

Rog finished filling his mug and handed the bottle to Contru, who went to fill his. "I will be fine tonight. I never have any problems keeping my drinks down." 

"Well there was that time when you were out Mitsy Kline and threw up all over her clothes…" 

Rog almost choked on his ale, but was able to swallow it without any problems. "Hey, that was my first date and I was nervous and I was not as good as keeping my alcohol down as I am now." 

"Sure, whatever you say Rog, whatever you say…" Contru took another drink of his ale and placed the mug on his desk and got up and went to the window. 

"You still worrying about Cecil?" Rog asked sitting back in his chair. 

"Of course I am. I wish that I could have gone with him." 

Rog just shook his head. "We had this talk already, there is nothing more that you can do about Cecil and Rosa. It is all in Cecil's hand at this point and the only way that you will ever see him again is if he comes back here by some strange miracle." Rog drank the rest of the ale that was in his mug and slammed it back down on the desk. 

"I understand that Rog, but don't you feel the need to help them?" Contru turned, trying to see if his friend had some compassion in him. 

"No Contru I don't! What is with you all of a sudden!?" Rog got up out his chair and slammed his fists on the desk. "You never wanted to leave this island before your father starting taking you with him on his trips and even after that you never opened up to anyone before about anything, not even to me sometimes, and now you want to go out and help people you barely know! This town needs you more than Cecil does! Cecil is a trained knight, Yang is a Monk of Fabul, and Tellah is a master wizard! They don't need you, nor do they want you!" 

Contru, who had taken everything Rog had said, turned on his friend with his last comment. "What do you mean they wouldn't want me!?" 

"Contru, you're not the most friendly person in the world, you even know that! Hell, you even admitted that to me one time! Why do you think he would want to pick up people he doesn't know that well and have them go off and save the world with him! Contru, you need to come back to reality and focus on protecting Mythrila, our home town." 

"Rog, you know I'm not just some fool headed idiot. I do not go off on wild adventures that are pointless like we use to do, like you even dreamed about doing when we were little! Something is drawing me to this…something is drawing me to want to go out there and help him, but you know that I would _never_ abandon this town, especially when it needed me the most! If anything, you're the one that you just described because I never even thought about actually going out there with him, I'm just saying that something is drawing me to him, nothing more." 

Contru turned back to the window and Rog sat back down in his chair. 

Contru just continued to look out of his window and heard Rog's chair move. He turned around and saw him standing up. 

"Contru, I am sorry about my outburst. I guess I was just trying to hide the way I feel about it to by covering it with duty for the town…" Rog looked right into Contru's eyes. "I feel the exact same way you do. I felt something pulling me towards him and wanting to go with him."

"It is all right Rog. When I was leading him into the town, I had a weird feeling and now I realize it is the exact same one I am having right now. It was something that was drawing me to him." 

"ARGH!" Rog yelled as he sat down. Rog looked down in his chair and saw that crystal in it. 

"Is that the glowing crystal of mystery?" Contru asked in his mocking tone. 

"If that is what you want to call it…" Rog started to look at it closer. "I think that it is glowing brighter than before. Cecil said he was going after the Crystal of Troia, correct?"

"Yes…you think it may be reacting to the actions of the crystals?" 

"Maybe…I am not sure but neither of us have been able to explain it before." Contru looked outside and noticed where the sun was in the sky. 

"I think I should get these reports to the Mayor's house and get some food. Want to join me?" 

Rog place the small little crystal in his pocket again and looked to Contru. "That sounds very good. What should we do about the ale?" 

"Leave it here, only you and I are the people who come in here." Rog nodded and followed Contru as they left and headed to the Mayor's house and then to the tavern for some food. 

~

Cecil was waiting outside the ship testing his bow with one of the arrows. He drew the arrow back and held it there and slowly let it go. Cecil looked at the bow and nodded. "This will do."

"What will do Cecil?" Tellah asked from behind him. 

"The bow. It is almost as good as a Baronian bow is, I am a little surprised." Cecil put the bow onto his back and turned towards the ship. "What is taking Cid so long?"

Yang came from the forest towards the north and walked up to Cecil and Tellah. 

"Any luck locating the forest?" 

"No," Yang replied. "It is much further north than I thought. It will be a little bit of a walk, I hope that will be all right for everyone." 

Tellah made a mumble noise, under his breath and walked away from the two of them towards the ship. 

"Tellah will be fine, Cid should be all right as well, but he will complain about it." 

As Cecil finished that sentence Cid and Tellah came out from the ship. Cid had his entire leather armor set on and was carrying his wooden hammer again. 

Cid immediately went right towards Cecil with a not-so-happy look on his face. "I hear that we have to walk a lot, is this true?" 

"We have no other choice Cid, let us go now so we can get to the cave as soon as possible. I want to get this done with." Cecil turned and started to head towards the north, leaving Cid standing there with his mouth open. Everyone started behind Cecil soon afterwards and Yang walked along side of the Paladin. 

"How far did you get before you turned back, Yang?"

"Not very far, I got past the town and castle, that was about it. The castle was mostly visible still as well." 

"All right, I hope that this does not end with us being to tired to just get to the forest and then not have enough energy to fight. Did this man say how far north the forest is?" 

"He said it would not take to long to get there, he never specified how long though." 

Cecil just smiled and shook his head. "It is _so_ great when people never specify how long things will take." Cecil turned his head to make sure that the two older men weren't being left behind. They were close enough that they wouldn't be lost, but out of talking distance. 

Cecil turned back to Yang and pointed to the two of them. "It is funny how they did not get along when they first met and now they have no problems at all. They even seem to be a little friendly towards each other now. Never would have guessed it with how woolheaded they each seem to be." Yang gave a low rumble laugh as Cecil finished the sentence. 

"That is very true Cecil. When those two first saw each other in Baron, I could see the sparks flying between them and now…" Yang started to laugh again and Cecil noticed Tellah and Cid looking at them. Cecil shook his head as the two old men started to stare them down together. Not to long ago they were doing that to each other. 

Cecil turned his attention back to the forest ahead of him. All of the trees in this area had been grown using the Earth Crystal. Cecil could not see and sign of the trees having any problems yet, but he knew there must be some of the trees that are dying already. Cecil did not have any idea what was going to happen after he took back the crystal because he needed to give it to Golbez, not give it back to the Clerics. 

"Yang, do you worry about Fabul right now?" Cecil asked the Monk from nowhere

Yang seemed a little taken aback by the question, but didn't show it too much. "Not very much. The king may be injured but with our crystal already taken there would be no reason to attack again, unless Golbez wanted to prove something. Why do you ask Cecil?" 

"I just think there has to be something else that Golbez is doing right now because we are getting the crystal for him. There is not any place left for him to attack though. It just cannot be because of the Dark Elf that Golbez is not getting this crystal with his own forces." 

"Golbez has led all the attacks right?" Yang asked Cecil. 

"Yes. He did when he was just in command of the Redwings and was making it seem that the king was still in charge. Now I think that he is no longer doing that anymore, he does not want to put himself into a bad position be leading everyone." 

Cecil looked back forward and saw something yellow more in front of him in the bushes. Cecil picked up his pace and saw where it headed. Cecil crouched down and looked through the bush. He could feel Yang come up next to him and look with him. 

"There is a yellow chocobo, the forest must be near by. Is the castle still visible?" Yang looked over his shoulder and stood up carefully without the chocobo seeing or hearing him. 

"No, it is gone from sight. What shall we do?" 

"Follow it, whenever it starts to move again." As Cecil finished the chocobo started to move again, this time at a much slower pace. Cecil turned to Yang. 

"Wait here with Tellah and Cid, I will find out where the forest is and then come back." 

"Good plan, they will most likely will cause too much noise and scare them all off." 

Cecil started off after the large yellow bird. Cecil had been used to tracking chocobos all of his life. Part of becoming a knight at Baron was to catch your own chocobo and tame it. Cecil's was still in Baron save and sound. 

Cecil kept close to the bird and followed it without making a noise. Cecil stayed low to the ground and in bushes to make sure that the bid would not see him at all. The good thing about chocobos was that they did not have a very good sense of smell. Their best senses were hearing and sight, which Cecil was careful not to allow him to be detected by both of those. 

The bird walked though a set of trees and when Cecil came up to it saw the opening where the chocobo forest was. Cecil turned around and started heading back the way he came, following the tracks that he and the chocobo had made. 

With him not tracking anymore, he was able to move a little bit faster and was able to get to where everyone else was waiting in half the time. 

"I found the forest. It is not to far ahead but we have to be quite, very quite." Everyone nodded and they started along the path. Cecil went to the tree group and peeked through and saw all of the chocobos around. 

Cecil reached in his pouch and grabbed some gysahl and handed some to each of them. "The way you do this is hold the gysahl out in front of you as far as possible and let a bird come to you. This is going to be harder seeing how we need black chocobos but try your best to avoid getting to close to the yellow ones. Once you get one to come to you show it lots of affection and it should be fine with you, do not, and mean do not," Cecil paused to look at Cid, "get angry with it at all and do not talk at all!" 

Cecil started to move around the outside so that when he came out could be as close as possible to a black chocobo. The other followed his lead. Each one of them went on the outskirts of the forest and positioned themselves near black birds. 

Cecil was the first to come out and the black chocobo went right to the greens and started to eat them and Cecil started to pet is neck and scratch the bird his ear. When the chocobo was done it rubs its head against Cecil. Cecil could see the others and he nodded to them to do it. All the rest came out and were able to get birds fairly quickly. The bird that Cid approached though almost bit his hand off when he offered the greens to it. Everyone mounted their birds and they took flight into the air. Cecil pointed his bird to the northwest and flew the very short distance to where the island was. Cecil had the birds land close to the cave. 

The group all landed safely and dismounted from the birds. Yang looked over to Cecil. 

"What will keep them from flying away?" 

"I do not know, but by the looks of it, they are not leaving anytime soon." Cecil pointed to where the four birds where all sitting down and started to rest. "Maybe they need to rest for a little bit after flying. This should not take us too long to get the crystal, I hope." Cecil turned around and looked at the cave where the Dark Elf was in holding the only thing that would save Rosa. Cecil turned to everyone and asked. "Is everyone ready to go?" 

"Yes Cecil, let's get that crystal and save Rosa!" Cid yelled. Cecil nodded and started into the cave.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 14

Golbez sat in his chair that he had set up in one of the smaller rooms in The Tower of Zot so he could keep away from Rosa's constant annoying reasoning with him. It seemed that even if he threatened her that she knew it was a bluff. He stood up and turned to face the wall opposite the door. He was almost ready to punch it. The woman's constant annoyance was starting to get to him. Golbez needed Cecil to deliver that Crystal or he would have serious problems. He did not need that to happen when he was so close to getting everything that he needed to finish with this side of the world. 

Golbez heard the door to the chamber open up and turned around. The new Captain of the Redwings to replace Kain since he would be needing him here to throw off all of Cecil's efforts against him. This new Captain was not a human, he was a goblin but one that acted very stupid and fought with no brain. He knew military strategy better than some of the humans Golbez had fought against during his short time as the Captain of the Redwings. 

"Master Golbez, you called for me?" The goblin said as he bowed down showing his respect for his master. 

"Yes, Azeral I have called for you. I want you to run an errand for me."

"I would do anything for you master!" Azeral said, head still down. 

"I want you to go to Mythrila and take every piece of Mythril that you can find from there. Take weapons, armor, anything that has a trace of Mythril in it. I want you to take all but one airship when you go too. I know that Mythrila has made it self more defensible since Kain's visit. If you have to, burn the town down!"

Azeral was smiling, but Golbez couldn't see it. "Master, would you mind if I took a few…prisoners to have as a…tool to use?"

"Take whatever you want, as long as you get all the Mythril first." 

Azeral's smile grew even bigger, showing his decaying teeth. "Thank you Master. Master, if you don't mind me asking, why am I doing this, getting the Mythril I mean?"

"You will find out when you return, now go before I change my mind on choosing you."

Azeral kept his head down but started to back out slowly out of the room. "Thank you Master, I will return with what you seek." Azeral turned and exited out of the door to start on his mission.

Golbez watched the goblin leave. He had never trusted goblins ever before. The only thing they ever seem to do was cause trouble because of their stupidity. Azeral though was much different. He had brains to him that could match any man. His physical strength was also abnormally high. Azeral could easily fight off tree men by himself and be able to beat them. His skill with a sword was also unmatched in the dark wizard's army. Golbez didn't think Kain could even beat the goblin with just sword. Golbez did not understand where he came from at all as well and that bothered him a lot. 

__

"I do not trust that goblin at all but he is the only one who is ruthless enough to lead those troops to do what I need done." Golbez turned and sat back down in his chair to think about how he would kill Cecil after the Crystal was his. 

~

Contru sat back in his the room where him and Rog stayed all day unless they were out leading patrols. Contru was leaning back his chair so that it was up against the wall at an angle while Rog was lying on top of his table with his head hanging upside down facing Contru. 

"The world almost looks better for this vantage point Contru. Just imagine what it would be like. Walking on the blue of the sky, seeing clouds going beneath you feet instead of above your head. This is-" Rog stopped talking when he was hit in the face with a paper ball from his friend. 

"Maybe you should get up, I think with all that blood going to your head I think you might have finally lost it there."

"What are you talking about. I lost it two days ago when Cecil and his gang left town. That was the last, and only excitement that we're going to have for a long time." 

Contru chuckled under his breath at his friend. Contru knew that Rog was right though, but was glad for it as well. The only 'excitement' they would be seeing would involve their town being attacked because until the stupid trade embargo was lifted by the Village Council, they were stuck in the town with nothing to do at all. 

Contru got up, leaving his friend dangling upside down, staring at the floor, and went to the window. He looked out over to the ocean. Contru could imagine being out there, on the water getting off the island and at least doing something most days instead of doing nothing like they had been for the longest time. 

"You know Rog, I would much rather be battling monster on the open water than stuck sitting here, waiting for nothing to happen." Contru turned around and saw a small wooden ball on the ground and he kicked it right across the room. It bounced off the wall and then headed right past Rog's head, bounced off another wall and then slowly rolled right underneath Rog's head and came to a stop. 

A smile spread across Rog's face. "Nice kick!" He started to laugh while still lying upside down. Since he was laughing so hard he never saw Contru come up to him. Contru just lifted the other end of the table up and Rog slowly started to slide off. 

Rog could tell her was moving. He pulled his legs up towards his head and when he slid off the table his legs were the first things to come down. Rog stood himself up just as Contru was lowering the table. 

"Thought you could get me but-" Rog was cut off as the room started to spin around him.

Contru just stood there laughing at his friend. "I knew that you would do that but with all that blood shifting around I knew you would get dizzy, very dizzy." 

Rog had to grab hold of the corner of the table to keep himself from falling down. "Just you wait until I'm all better, then you'll be sorry." Rog kneeled toward the ground to try anything to get the dizziness to go away. 

Contru stood there over his friend laughing. He was laughing so much that he did not hear the sound of frantic footsteps coming towards the door. Contru turned around as the door flew open and one of the soldiers came in and gave salute. 

"What do you need there my good man?" Contru asked, still trying to hold his laughter in. 

"Sir, we have spotted an airship approaching."

Contru shook his head. "It most likely is just Cecil, nothing to worry about." Rog was still on the floor.

"Sir, the airship doesn't match the colors Cecil gave us and there is also another problem."

Contru stopped laughing and Rog was finally able to stand up. "What do you mean?" Contru asked the soldier. 

"There are at least five airships that we can see coming from the southeast." Contru and Rog turned to each other in disbelief. 

The solider continue to stand there, waiting for orders as to what to do. Contru turned to him. "How far off are they?" 

"They were spotted a very far distance from the farthest island sir." 

Contru starting think in his head. _"That gives us at least a couple of hours if they are that far off…"_ Contru looked up and saw the soldier still standing there. 

"What are you waiting for!? Go and sound the alarm!" The soldier gave salute, then turned and ran towards the stairs that lead to the tower. Contru turned and grabbed his sword as Rog did too. They were both in full armor despite how heavy it was but it was a rule for all of them to be in armor at all in times in case of times like this.

"Well Contru," Rog said as they both headed towards the door outside, "looks like we got that excitement we were looking for…"

"I know, but I was hoping that this would not come to our town. I guess fate has dealt us this hand though." Contru said as they came down the stairs and could see the door to the outside in front of them. 

"I guess so." Rog said as they emerged outside and heading towards the middle of the town as the bell in the tower began to ring. 

~

Cecil held his torch over his head trying to see if he could find his way through the maze that this cave had turned into. Ever since the group had come into the cave it had just been disaster after disaster. Besides not being able to use metal in the cave, which made Cecil lose his main weapon, Tellah had said to let him deal with anything that might harm them. The problem with that was he was starting to get tired because of all the walking they were doing. Cecil just hoped they would be able to find the Dark Elf soon. Cecil could Cid mumbling behind him. Cecil could feel the field as he was leading the group through the cave. 

"Stupid magnetic field…could easily do anything if I had that Mythril hammer but no…stupid Dark Elf." Cecil was just getting a little tired of that as well. Cid had not stopped complaining since they entered the cave. Maybe that's another reason why no one had beaten the Dark Elf before; they got too annoyed by friends just going through the cave. 

Yang was behind Cid keeping a close eye on Cid just in case a problem happened with the Sage. Cecil turned his attention back to the path in front of him. He looked around and tried to see if he could see anything that might let him know if he was getting closer. Cecil went to turn around and his left foot came out from under him but he was able to catch himself on a wall before he fell. The path was covered with bat guano from the bats that were on the ceiling and it seems terrible in there. Cecil thought he had smelled bad things from when he was training to become a knight in baron, but this smell was like rotten chocobo eggs mixed with garbage mixed with human feces that made the stench, at least Cecil thought. This place had to be the worse place on the planet; no wonder the Dark Elf chose it to hide himself. Cecil did not want to imagine what falling into that would be like. 

Yang came up to Cecil after his fall because the group had stopped so Tellah was okay for now. 

"What is it Yang?" Cecil said making sure that his hand wasn't covered in the disgusting material.

"I think the smell is getting to Tellah a little to much right now. How much longer do you think we need to find the Dark Elf?" Yang asked looking at Cecil.

"I hope soon. We have been here for a while already and I think all of us will be sick soon." Cecil turned around to look at the path again and saw that it led into a dead end. Cecil moved forward and walked to the edge where another bottomless pit in the cave seemed to be. Cecil turned to his right and as he did he saw the light go down a passage. Cecil moved into that passage to get more light inside of it and at the end of it saw a door. Cecil turned to Yang with a big smile on his face. "I think we are almost done." 

Yang had a confused look but Cecil motioned him to look down the passage. Yang looked and returned Cecil's smile. "A door like that is not in a cave naturally." Yang turned and headed back to where Tellah was resting, trying to catch his breath with the stench in the air. Cid walked up to Cecil and looked down the passage himself and he jumped up into the air. 

"Finally! The end of the God forsakin' cave. Maybe there's fresh air in there. I'll be able to breathe again instead of thinking I'm living in a toilet!" Cid started to run down the passage but Cecil grabbed his arm before he was out of reach. 

"Wait here until Tellah and Yang get here. No need to go running off like a fool to die. June would not be too happy with me, nor your men at Baron." Cid stayed silent, not looking at Cecil. "Well am I right, Cid?" 

Cid mumbled something under his breath that Cecil couldn't understand. 

"What was that Cid?" Cecil asked. 

"Yea…yer right." Cecil shook his head at the man. The intelligence to create airships, but not very good common sense. Yang and Tellah were coming up just as Cecil was turning around to see where they were. Cecil started down the path first with the light and as he did bats started flying out from the ceiling of the passage. Everyone put their arms over their faces to guard them and Cecil bent down a little bit too. When he feel the constant pounding of bats gone he took his arms away from his face and looked around to make sure no more were coming. 

Cid stood up and looked like he was ready to kill something. "I hate bats!" He yelled out and then just started walking forward ahead of Cecil, who was making sure everyone was okay. Tellah was fine, but still having problems breathing and Yang was fine as well, except for a few scratches on his back from the claws on the bats, but nothing serious. Cecil walked up behind Yang and placed his hand there and started to flow some healing power into Yang. Within seconds all the scratches were gone. 

Yang turned around and nodded his head in thanks to Cecil. Yang and Cecil both stayed with Tellah to make sure could make it to the door. 

As they got closer to the door the smell that had over taken them seemed to lessen a little bit. At least now they could breathe air that was completely fouled up with the smell the bats had put into this cave. They kept approaching and saw Cid standing at the door, waiting for them. 

"This has to be it. No door like this has ever been in a cave like this." Cid said motioning to the door.

"I would agree." Cecil left Tellah with Yang, but it seemed the old Sage would be fine in a little bit being able to breathe fresh air finally. Cecil put his hand on the door and could feel the cold stone against the palm of his hand. Cecil ran his hand down the middle of the door, trying to find where the separation in the door might be so that he could open it up and see if they were correct about this. As Cecil was about to give up he felt a light draft of air touch his hand. Cecil went back to the area where it had been and found where it was coming from. Cecil ran his hand up and found that is where the middle of the door was. Cecil then tried to push open the door by himself but found that it would not budge. Cecil tried again by putting all of his weight into the door but still was not able to move it at all. 

Cecil turned around and saw Yang already approaching him. 

"Tellah is fine now that is able to have some fresher air, he said he should be fine within minutes." 

Cecil nodded his head. "This door is stone and I can't move it an inch, could you-"

Yang started to laugh, causing his massive chest to go up and down, looking like there was an earthquake in his body. "I will be glad to help Cecil. I will take the right side, you take the left side." 

Cecil moved over enough to let Yang at the door. Cecil saw how Yang put his arms against the door and then put his legs behind him. Cecil mimicked the position. 

Yang looked to Cecil. "On three. One. Two. Three." On the last number both of them pushed all their weight against the door. Cecil could feel his muscles in his arms, legs, back, and shoulders start to burn with pain as they pushed. Slowly the door started to move and once they got the door open about a quarter of the way the door went flying open. 

Light poured out from the room they had just opened, causing them to shield their eyes. As they grew accustom to the light they could see what the room was. It was an exact duplicate of the Crystal Rooms that were around the world to hold the crystals. 

Cecil was completely shocked. "Why is there a Crystal Room in the middle of a cave that is so near Troia where a Crystal was placed originally."

"I do not know Cecil. It is as strange to me as it is to you…" Both of them continued to look inside the room, not moving at all. 

Cecil continued to look around and as his eyes were passing over the altar, he saw something in it. It was the Crystal. "Yang, the Crystal is on the altar in here." Cecil pointed and Yang nodded his head when he saw it. 

Cecil turned and saw that Cid and Tellah were waiting for them to go inside. "Tellah, are you all right now?"

"Yes I am, just go inside so we can get the Crystal and get out of this feces covered hole." Tellah said, giving Cecil a look he could swear he could see through the glasses he had on his face. 

Cecil turned and headed into the room with everyone else close behind. Cecil continued his pace towards the Crystal when a voice from nowhere started talking. 

"I commend your effort. But your excursion ends here." Everyone had weapons drawn and was looking around trying to find the source of the voice. As they we all looking around, a person walked out from behind the Crystal Altar. He had long white hair that was in a mess and had skin that seemed to have a pale blue color. His ears with also pointed on the end. The Dark Elf had shown himself. "You will never get the crystal. You cannot defeat me with those weapons."

"We shall see." Yang said preparing himself for the fight that was about to commence. 

"Let me carry the weight." Tellah said from behind them, already starting to prepare a spell. 

Cecil nodded and drew his arrow back and fired it right at the Dark Elf. The elf just jumped over the shot and landed on his feet in front of the steps that led up to the altar. 

"Pathetic attack. Can you withstand this?" The Dark Elf then drew his hand back and charged up a magic spell instantaneously and aimed it right at the party. The first thing that hit the group was fire from him. The fire started to burn some of their wooden weapons, but Cecil was able to keep his bow from catching on fire too bad. The next thing that came at them was ice magic that put out all of the flames but started to slow them down because of the cold. The following attack was lightning from his hands that knocked all of them down. After that the Dark Elf lowered his hand and the attack stopped. 

Cecil was on his right knee along with Yang. Tellah was trying to hold himself up with his staff but seemed like he might fall at any time. Cid was on the ground, and appeared to not be moving at all. 

"We…stand…no chance." Yang said, trying to catch his breath as he was talking. 

Cecil nodded. "I need my sword." 

Cecil turned to Tellah to see him fall down on the ground, passed out. As Cecil was turning to face the Dark Elf again, he saw Yang lean down even more so that his head was resting on the ground as well. That attack had drained them of everything they had. 

Cecil looked dead into the Dark Elf's eyes. "If only I had my sword…" Cecil then lowered his head waiting for the final blow that he knew was coming. 

~

Back in Troia Edward was resting comfortable in his bed, recovering some of his strength. He was lying down when suddenly he had a feeling of danger. Edward opened his eyes wide. "Cecil…" Edward turned his body and sat up in his bed and starting walking to where his harp was sitting. As he took his third step though his legs gave out from under him and he fell. The doctor heard the fall and went running to him. 

"Where are you going!? You are in no condition to move!" 

Edward looked up at the doctor with determination in his eyes. "I am all right. I just want to…get to my harp to-" Edward was not able to finish the sentence as he almost fell down while kneeling. By this time the nurse had come up to him as well and they were planning on dragging back to the bed if they had to. 

"Please! Return your bed!" The doctor pleaded with him. 

Edward started coughing and seemed like he wasn't able to breathe. Then he looked at the doctor. "I must help them." Summoning all of his strength he got up and finished the short walk to where his harp was sitting. He picked up and started to play a very beautiful melody that he had heard a long time ago. 

~

The Dark Elf was slowly approaching the group and was preparing to kill them when he started to hear some kind of music and stopped. Yang raised his head up with a astonished look. Tellah was started to raise himself up with his staff again. 

"This melody…" Tellah said, trying to figure out where it was coming from. 

Cecil reached into his pouch that he had on his side and realized the sound was coming from there. He pulled out the only object in there and it was the small Twinharp that Edward had given him. 

"It's Edward!" Cecil cried in joy. 

The Dark Elf had grabbed his ears, trying to keep the music from getting into them. "DAH! What is this torturous sound!?" As he was holding his head the aura that had been in the cave seemed to start weakening until it vanished entirely. Cecil was looking around when he heard Edward's voice somehow. 

"He cannot control the field while I am playing! Now draw your sword!" 

Cecil normally would have been more than happy to but he did not have the sword in his hand or on him at all. Cecil then saw out of the corner of his eye a sword lying on the ground. Cecil ran over to it and grabbed it. 

The Dark Elf was still dealing with the music so as Cecil approached him, he never saw him coming at all. Cecil jabbed the blade deep into the Dark Elf's stomach so that the blade was sticking out the other side. The Dark Elf looked right into Cecil's eyes and just smiled. 

"You may have beaten me like this but you still have not killed me." With the he knocked Cecil away and drew the blade from his stomach and threw it down on the ground. Then he started chanting something and his body started to get longer and his features more lizard like. His skin started to turn to a grayish color. Cecil grabbed the sword and backed away to safety from the creature. After the transformation was complete the Dark Elf had now become a dragon. 

Cecil was about ready to charge in when a huge fireball hit the dragon right on his face causing him to reel back in pain. Cecil took the opportunity to charge in and stab the dragon on its soft underside. 

The dragon cried out in pain and Cecil just continued to stab at it until the dragon tried to take a bite out of him. Cecil jumped back out of the way and when his head reached close to the ground Yang came flying in with a kick that knocked the dragon down. Tellah fired another fireball at the dragon, which caused it to stay down. Cecil ran up the dragon and when it's mouth was open stuck the blade into the roof of his mouth and into its brain. Cecil removed the blade and the dragon cried out in pain. Slowly, it started to revert back the human form of the Dark Elf. The Dark Elf stood up, bleeding everywhere that Cecil had stabbed him and looked towards the ceiling. 

"This cannot be! With the Crystal…My eternal life…" There was one more cry of pain and then he feel down flat onto his face, dead. 

Cecil dropped the blood-coated blade and looked to everyone. Yang was helping Tellah stand up because he had used a lot of energy on those magic attacks. Cid was also standing up with Yang and Tellah. 

Cecil turned and found the staircase that lead up to the altar. There, right in the middle, the Crystal sat giving off a light glow. Cecil grabbed it and looked down at it. "Thank you, Edward…" He whispered. Cecil came down the stairs and held the crystal in hands firmly. "Let us leave this horrid place and go save Rosa now." Everyone nodded and Cid gave a little yell. Cecil led the group from the Crystal Room and back into the cave. 

~

Rog walked up and down the lines of men that had formed with the alert bell sounding. There was one hundred men lined up in ten rows of ten. Contru stood out in front of the first row about fifteen feet away as Rog approached him. 

"They are ready…as they'll ever be." Saying the last part under his breath. 

"Should I tell them the truth of what we face or make it seem like we have a chance?" Contru whispered to Rog. 

"I say the truth. They will appreciate it more when the killings start."

"I agree." Contru walked a little closer to the men. All of them were covered head to toe in the whitish mythril armor. Each had a shield that they could use and a sword at their sides. Each belt also held a small mythril dagger in it as well, in case the sword failed. They also had a few potions to help heal some minor wounds they might receive and keep on fighting. Contru cleared his throat and began to speak. 

"I will not lie to any of you right now. This town is in great danger. Any moment now an army from an evil wizard named Golbez will be landing on our island. We have no idea what they want but we must protect this town if they mean hostility." Contru looked at the men's eyes to see that the fear had started to show. Contru started to pace as he started talking again. "Not all of us are going to come back alive. I know that all of you are afraid of that, but that is the nature of warfare. I can see the fear in your eyes." He had reached the end of the line and turned and continued speaking. "The first time I set sail with my father, I was completely terrified of what might happen. I know that many of you have not been in a situation where you have been required to fight. I know right now that you are more scared than you ever thought you could be before. Do not fear though. As long as we remain together, this town will not fall. As long as we can look upon ourselves, and turn that fear in to something we can use on the battlefield, then this army will be a force to be reckoned with! Golbez's armies will not just come in here and find a town waiting to be squashed under his foot! He will find a town that is ready to fight, tooth and nail to the death! Before this day is done Mythirla will not be another town that fell to Golbez, but a town that stood up against him and showed him what the regular people can do! As you fight, fight for those you love and always fight for our town! For Mythirla!" 

The army arose in a giant cheer and started to chant Mythrila. Men started to pull swords out and pound them against their shields creating a whirlwind of noise. Contru turn to Rog, who had a smile on his face. 

Contru turned back to the army and put his arms up and the men started to quite down. "Now everyone get to your assigned posts and we will defend this town. Squad leaders I want you to meat with Rog and me right now to talk about exact battle plan." All the men started to move to their positions or towards Contru and Rog. After the ten men that were in charge of their squads were there, Rog started with the briefing. 

"The plan that Contru and I came up with involves heavy reliance on the archers. All the archers are to position themselves from the direction that the men come from and shoot into the enemy and try to kill as many as possible. Either two things will happen. We will kill enough to rush with the infantry and our mounted chocobo warriors or they will break through the gates. If they break through the gates then I want all squads to start attacking except for squad six, which will remain with the archers to protect them. While the enemy is flooding in the archers will still be shooting outside trying to reduce the numbers that are coming in. The archers are to never, and I mean _never_ shoot inside of the town, understand?" Rog waited for nods from the commanders before he went on. 

"After all that happens we just have to hope that we can beat them back enough or make it seem like this town is not worth all the fighting and they will leave. Any questions?" Rog looked around and saw no one seemed confused or worried. 

"Okay, then get to your men and get everything ready." All of the men saluted and headed towards where each of their groups was suppose to be. 

"It is an army Contru, just not a good one." Contru just started laughing at Rog. "What is so funny?"

Contru stopped his laughing at looked at his friend. "Of course it's not. It's not like we are real generals either my friend." 

"True. But I would still prefer to have some Monks of Fabul or Ninjas of Eblan here instead of just these villagers that are either past their prime, or the prime of their lives will not be here for a few years."

"I know Rog, but we have no choice. It is not like the crew of our ship could fight off an army all by itself and we have done everything that we can to make it as close to an army. And besides, we have the most important thing an army always needs." Contru turned and started to walk off towards where his chocobo was waiting. 

"Contru!" Contru stopped walking, but did not turn around at all. "What is that important thing?" 

Contru looked over his shoulder and smiled at Rog. "Heart." Contru walked to the person holding his reins and got onto his chocobo. Rog soon came and got his as well to go and tell the mounted men exactly what was going to happen now.

~

Azeral was on the lead airships of the group that he had. Each ship of the five held a hundred men inside their bowels. _"This small little town won't stand a chance against this force…"_ Azeral thought as the ships started to come down on the island that held the town. They had landed about two hundred yards from the town. 

"Sir, all ships are down and ready to go at your order." A Imp captain said. 

"Good." Azeral said while licking his lips. "Tell the rest of the commanders to go after the town now while I lead the group that's going to the mines." 

"Yes sir." The Imp then turned and went about his business. Azeral continued to look out towards the town. He could tell that they had put up a wall for defense but he knew that would not hold forever against the size of his force. He could already see some of the other soldiers coming out from their ships and heading towards the town. 

"Now…the fall of man begins." Azeral began to laugh as he turned around to prepare himself for the battle that was coming.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 15

Cecil finally saw light coming from one of the passageways in the Magnetic Cavern. "I think I found the way out!" Cecil cried behind him. Cecil started to walk down the tunnel and could feel a cool breeze. The air was starting to lose that smell of feces and Cecil could hear his nostrils celebrate in the fact they could breathe fresh air again. 

Cecil emerged from the cave and threw down the torch and out it out with his boot. Soon Yang emerged with Tellah and Cid. The Sage and the Engineer both sat down in the soft grass around the entrance to regain their breathe as well as relax before heading back the Troia. Cecil walked into the woods leaving the rest there. After a little bit of a walk he spotted the black chocobos that they had used to get onto the island. They were awake now but did not seem like they were going to be leaving until they came to let them know. They were wild chocobos but still had that since of duty to the person that caught them to pay them back this much at least. Cecil turned and went back to the entrance of the cave and saw that even Yang too was taking a little breather. Cecil decided to follow suit and sat down forming a circle of the four men. 

"All of the chocobos are still here, so whenever we are ready to leave we can." 

"Good." Tallah said, pulling out his pipe and placing some tobacco into it. The pipe then lit up without him striking a match at all and he began to smoke. "The sooner we get off this island the happier I will be." Tellah took a breath of the smoke in and exhaled it right into the air. 

"I am ready to leave when everyone else is too." Yang said from his perch on the rock he was sitting on. Tellah took one more breathe of the smoke and then shook out what little tobacco was left and stomped it out. 

"I say we leave now, in case those birds do decide to run on us." Cecil got up from where he was sitting and led everyone to where the chocobos were waiting. Cecil went up to one of the birds and it started to rub its head against him affectionately. Cecil climbed on top and the chocobo took off into the air. Cecil turned and saw that the rest of the chocobos had been mounted and that the birds were all flying together in a group. 

Cecil looked forward and saw that the chocobos were heading right for the forest again. The giant black bird that Cecil was on maneuvered his way through the trees until he was down back onto the soil. The bird walked a short distance until he was right in the middle of the forest. Cecil waited to see if the chocobo was going to move again, and when he thought it was safe, climbed down. The chocobo then ran further into the forest and away from Cecil. Three more chocobos came running past Cecil, and when he turned around, saw that everyone else was with him as well. 

"Well, looks like we will have to walk." Cecil started to walk towards where Troia was when four regular, yellow, chocobos came out from the forest. Each bird went to one of the people standing there and just waited. 

"Or maybe not." Cecil said as he began to pull himself up. Everyone else did too and Cecil began to lead everyone back to Troia Castle. The ride back to the castle seemed much shorter than the walk was. There were many reasons why that happen, Cecil thought. One, they knew the way this time so they could tell how far they were. Two, there were no monsters to worry about at all, and then finally, then were on the backs of the fastest land animal in the entire world. It seemed like a matter of seconds until they were along the side the castle where the stopped. As soon as they were off the chocobos, they took off back north towards the forest where they lived. 

"Well that was nice and short." Cecil said happily as he started towards the castle gates. Cecil kept his pace quick so that he could let the Clerics know about his success and then to have to ask them to take it from them and save Rosa. Cecil quickly worked his way into the castle, down the main hall, and then into the antechamber of the Clerics. After showing the guard what he had, he was allowed to enter. 

As soon as Cecil walked into the door, all eight of the Clerics went flying towards him as they saw him holding the Crystal of Earth. The only thing that Cecil could make out in the noise was that he had succeeded in getting the Crystal. As the Clerics started to celebrate, an evil voice fell upon the room. 

"It's about time, Cecil." The Clerics shot away from Cecil, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. 

Cid looked all around the room, also trying to find the source of the voice. "Who the hell!?" 

Cecil didn't need to ask who it was, he could tell right away. "Kain!"

Kain gave a little chuckle and then started to speak. "Bring the Crystal and your ship. I'll take you to Rosa." The voice then left the room, leaving everyone on edge. 

The Clerics had finally stopped with their constant commotion and one of them walked forward towards Cecil. "We promised you that you could borrow it, we honor that request, but please, try to return it to us if you possibly can." 

Cecil bowed in honor to them. "I will try." Cecil turned and started to walk out of the room.

"Wait." Cecil stopped and looked at the Cleric who had asked him to stop. "You may take the items in the underground store room if that will assist you." 

Cecil turned to her and bowed. "Thank you, your generosity is greatly appreciated." Cecil rose from the bow and quickly left the room. Cecil went to the main hall and waited until everyone was around him. Cecil then turned and went towards the door that led into one of the courtyards. 

"Cecil, this ain't the right way." Cid said as he continued to walk down the path. 

"It is for what I am going to do." Cid then remembered where the path led. Cecil opened the door quietly and walked in. He then realized he was still holding the Crystal in his hands and placed back into his pouch. Cecil then walked around and found Edward lying in his bed. 

Cecil slowly walked up and saw that he was awake. "Thank you." Cecil said as he walked up by Edward's left side. 

"So how'd you manage to distract that magneto-head?" Cid asked, much louder than he needed to. 

Edward nodded to Cecil and looked over at Cid. "I first heard that melody back when I traveled as a minstrel. I heard was a song to remonstrate elves. Quite frankly, I'm surprised it worked." 

"We owe you our lives." Yang said as he stood next to Cid. Yang then bowed as his sign for thanks. 

Edward shook his head. "No, I only--ugh!" Edward stopped mid sentence as he lost his breathe. 

"Edward!" Cecil yelled out, ready to do anything at that very moment save the life of the person who had just saved his. 

Tellah, who was at Edward's head, looked down at him and saw him regain himself. "I have long wondered what Anna saw in a worm like you…" Cecil was ready to turn to Tellah to tell him to stop, but Tellah continued on. "Courage, rising from integrity…She was fortunate to receive your love." Edward was just silent as he looked up at the old Sage. 

"Now be silent and heal your wounds. I promise you I shall avenge Anna…For both of us." 

Edward nodded to Tellah. "Thank you…"

Tellah started to walk out of the room and Cecil soon realized that they would need to be leaving soon in order to ensure Rosa's safety. 

"Edward, I look forward to fighting alongside you again." Cecil bowed his head and Edward returned it. Cecil then hurried out of the room and went to the storeroom to get what he could to help him save Rosa. 

~

Contru ran up the stairs that were put into the wall to allow quick access up to the upper ledge where all the archers were currently. Contru looked out onto the battlefield and saw the horde of monsters coming towards the town. 

Contru shook his head and looked over at Rog, who had been up here since they had briefed the Chocobo Knights. "How many do you think?" 

Rog pulled down the monocular and handed it Contru. "I would say at least three hundred, most likely more than that." Contru looked through the monocular and took a quick pass over the enemy units. 

"There is one good thing though about this group. There does not seem to be any archers at all in this group here. That should help, just a little." Contru handed the monocular back to Rog, who handed it back to the archer commander who had it. 

"I noticed that too, but the sheer number makes it daunting. We are going to need to kill a lot of men with archers before our infantry can rush into that." Rog said. 

"I know. We only have the one hundred infantry and the twenty Chocobo Knights. The archers will at least need to fell half of them before we can even start thinking of rushing them." Contru shook his head again and looked towards his friend. "The plan that we made is the best we can do. We have to use the walls to cover ourselves as long as possible and then either rush or defend. It's our only choice." 

"I know, and I totally agree." Rog turned to the archer commander. "Keep on with the same plan, except tell your men to only go for shots that they can make, don't be idiots and try to make a huge line of arrows. Arrows that fall and don't hit anything are useless, understand?" 

"Yes sir!" The commander saluted and then turned to let his lieutenants know about what they needed to do. Rog and Contru headed down the stairs and back to their chocobos, which were waiting for them nearby the stairs. They got onto them and rode to where the Chocobo Knights were waiting by the Inn. 

"So Captain, what's it look like out there?" One of the men asked. 

"Lots of monsters, at least three hundred, most likely more. The plan stays at what it originally was." Contru stayed on his chocobo and just turned around to face the front of the town. _"I just hope that we are not making a mistake by doing this."_

Rog came up along side of him. "Get all of your armor on now men! I do not want anyone getting killed because of a little flesh wound."

"Sir! Shouldn't you and the Captain put your helmets on then?"

Contru turned in his saddle and looked at the man who had just spoke. "We never told you what you needed to put on exactly and helmets only block the view of chocobo mounted warriors. It just makes things much harder to see then normal." Contru had never worn a helmet while riding a chocobo, matter of fact, he never really ever did period. Most of the time people would see him in full armor except for the helmet. 

Contru looked back towards the gate and could tell the infantry were very uneasy. None of them could stay still as they were all moving around just a very little. Contru could understand how they were feeling. He could remember the time when he went on his first trading trip with his Dad and how nervous he had been, even though it was just about trading goods, not going to risk his life in battle. Contru knew that he would remember everyone that gave their lives here today, and he would never forget them. 

~

The monster army was slowly getting closer to the town. Every solider in that army knew they were just a decoy for the real mission, but they didn't care. Any time they could be out in the open and not hiding in some cave was the only they cared about. Also, the chance to eat human flesh was something they always enjoyed. Soon after Master Golbez defeated these pathetic humans they would rule the world, and the humans would only be food for them and nothing more. The commander in front of the army signaled them to stop and slowly the five columns of sixty men apiece stopped. They were just outside of the archers' range from the town. The columns started to form back together into one giant block of people. It was about fifty yards into the town's entrance. The leader of this group started to pound on his shield that he had. The rest of the army started to pound as well until the noise was like a deafening roar. Then the entire army started to run right at the sole gate leading into the town. 

~

The archers on the top of the wall had their bows ready ever since the enemy had stopped just outside of their ranch. All of the archers held their bows at the ready waiting until the order was given to fire into the fray. The monsters were getting closer and closer, but still the archers waited. Then the archer commander raised his arm up and let it fall. As his arm fell all the arrows that could be fired out from the twenty-five archers that were on the top of the walls. Monsters starting falling in the group as arrows hit. Arrows were loaded into bows and the signal to fire was given again. More monsters started to fall. They were grouped so close together that hitting one monster was causing other to fall over him and then they were being trampled over by their other troops without any care at all. More arrows came raining down on the monsters and causing more to trip up and get trampled. The archers were doing a good job, but it wasn't enough. Some of the monsters started to reach the door and started trying to make it inside. The archers were given the signal to fire at will to try to take down as many as possible. There was still too many monsters than could be rushed and with them being right at the door, it was a given that they were going to break through and into the town. The infantry started to line themselves up to prepare themselves for the coming horde. 

~

Contru and Rog stayed back watching the infantry getting prepared. 

"Well Contru, it looks like they will be breaking through." Rog said as he pulled his sword out of its scabbard. All the rest of the knights started to pull their swords out as well. Contru pulled his out as well and just waited until the door broke down. They could hear the door being pounded on by the monsters outside but it sounded like they didn't have a battering ram because it only sounded like monsters were just running into it. Contru waited in line with Rog in front of the other Chocobo Knights, until he heard someone yelling out his name. 

"Captain Contru! Captain Contru, sir!" Contru turned his chocobo until he could see the man. The soldier gave a salute and they waited. 

"Don't just stand there, tell me why you have come running for me!" 

"Sir! There are about one hundred more monsters heading towards the mines, sir!" 

Contru looked over to Rog who looked ready to break something. "Dammit! The villagers!" Rog yelled out. 

Contru looked back over to the soldier. "What pace are they going?" 

"They are all on foot sir, not a single chocobo among them!" 

"Good, we might be able to get to them before they can reach the mines." Contru said sheathing his sword. 

"How are we suppose to get out!? There are monsters trying to break down our front door!" One of the other knights yelled. 

Contru turned himself to face the rest of the troops. "The back door we built. It might only fit like one person and chocobo at a time, but we need to get going fast." Contru turned his head towards the solider waiting there. "Go tell the infantry commanders that they are in change. Tell that Toms is in charge, understand?" 

"Yes sir!" The solider saluted and then ran off to relay the information. Contru started to walk towards where the back of the town was and had the entire group following him. There were the ten guards back there to make sure that no one tried to come through this way, but as Contru expected, no one even knew about it besides them. 

"I need the door opened immediately! I need to get to the mines as fast as possible!" Two of the soldiers saluted and removed the giant beam that was in the way. The door was opened up and Contru was the first one through. The door led out to a small patch of forest that was right near the town so no one could see people coming out from to figure out where the door was. Contru went of to the side and waited as everyone started to file out. Rog was the last one out. One of the soldiers popped his head out to look. 

"Do not open this gate at all, understand! This gate is to not be opened at all even if it's me yelling on the other end!" Contru said as Rog started to move the rest of the knights away from the door. The door was shut and Contru could hear the beam coming back down over the door. Contru moved to where had put them, which was in the middle of the little forest where a clearing was. 

"We have to be careful now and make sure that no one can see us going or they might give chase which will cause us great problems. We need to head through this small forest until we are at its edge and then go from there. Move out!" Rog was at the head of the twenty men and their chocobos as they started out of the small little forest. Once they got to the edge, Contru went to the front with Rog and they took off at full speed for the mines. 

~

Cecil had just finished putting on the rest of his armor and placed his sword at his side. Cecil was walking onto the deck as Cid was powering up the airship. 

"How much longer until we are ready to leave?" Cecil asked checking some of the gauges as Cid was working on getting the ship warmed up. 

"Shouldn't be too much longer." Cid said as he flipped a few more switches and the engine roared to life. The entire ship started shaking and slowly lifted off the ground. As the engines started going faster the airship shot into air. Cid slowed the engines down and the ship stopped going higher into the air. Cecil looked over the edge and could feel the win blowing through his hair. He heard the door to the cabin and saw Yang and Tellah walk onto the deck and join him at the edge. Cecil looked towards the east and saw something flying towards them. As it came closer, Cecil knew what it was; it was an airship of the Redwings. The ship came closer until it stopped right next to the Enterprise. A plank was put out between the two airships and Kain walked about halfway to it. Cecil walked out just enough so that he was able to talk with Kain. 

"Show me the Crystal." Kain said as he folded his arms across his chest. 

Cecil reached into his pouch and pulled out the Crystal. "Here, where is Rosa?" Cecil asked, holding the Crystal out in plain sight, but close to his body. 

Kain nodded his head and a small smile spread across his face. "In the Tower of Zot. Follow me." Kain turned around and went back onto his airship. Cecil placed the Crystal back into his pouch and went back onto his airship as well. The Redwing airship started to move forward and Cid stayed close behind him. 

"Do you think that he will try to trick us Cecil?" Yang asked when Cecil stood with him on the deck. 

"No. As long as I have the Crystal he will not be able to do a thing. I think that is why he did not try to take it then. If Golbez is going to back stab us, he will want us in the position that best suits him. This is not good because it would have been easy enough to take out Kain and the airship and retrieve the Crystal from the crash site. Golbez is planning something devious, we need to be prepared. 

The Redwing airship turned south and Cid followed right behind. Cecil even thought that Cid was so close that they would crash into the other airship if something were to happen to it. They went right over the ocean and Cecil spotted something coming up over the horizon. It seemed to glow with the sun. As the airship got closer the reflection off of the sun was not aiming right at them and they could see what it was much better. It seemed to be a big, metallic tower

"What is the…" Cecil said as he walked to the very front edge of the ship. Yang came up next to him looking at what they were approaching. 

"What is that Cecil?" 

"No one really knows. History books have recorded it for generations ever since before the nations were formed. No one knows who built it or what it was ever used for. The only thing that any historian knows is that about twenty-five years ago almost all activity inside of it stopped." 

"What do you mean all activity stopped in it?" Yang asked. 

"A book I read say that there was a tower near Castle Eblan that would glow like a great torch throughout the night, and about twenty-five years ago a person who was observing it one night just saw all the light it put out just slowly vanish. Since that time, no one has recorded it as being lit." Cecil said as the tower got even closer. "I have seen it before, but the last time I did, it looked like it was ready to fall apart. Now it looks like it has been reborn." Cecil said looking over at Yang. 

"Golbez must have done that." Yang said studying the structure with Cecil. 

"I know he must have, but how could he have figured out how to activate it when no person from our planet has ever been inside of it? This just makes my suspicions grow greater." Cecil turned around. "Cid, how much longer till we are at that tower?" 

Cid appeared to be focusing on the tower and looked back over to Cecil. "I would say about three hours, I could get to it in about two if I wasn't stuck behind this slow garbage pile in front of me." Cid said as he focused on piloting again. 

Cecil needed to get off the deck and think about some things before he met up with Golbez. He wanted to make sure he was focused on everything that he needed to do so that he wasn't going to get himself killed when he was this close to getting Rosa back safely to him. Cecil headed towards the down that led down into the cabin and went into his room and shut the door. 

~

Contru had the entire group running their chocobos at full speed. He was determined to get them to the mines either before the monsters did or just after they did. He was not going to let any innocent civilians die. After they had made the exit from the town and worked their way through the forest they had started on the dead run towards where the mines were. They had been able to avoid being spotted by any of the monsters that were attacking the town. Once they had been far enough away, they took off with all the speed the chocobos could. Contru was sure that they had been spotted by that time, but it didn't matter because they had been to far away from any of the monsters from the village to get them. Contru just hoped that the village was okay. 

"Contru!" Contru turned his head to see Rog riding right along of him. "I do not think that the chocobos can take much more of this. By the time we get there they will be dead tired and will not be able to carry the troops into battle!" 

"I understand that, we will stop for a few minute break as soon as we can spot the first of the mines, you know, the one that is really high up. That will give us some time to formulate a battle plan and also some time to rest up the chocobos." 

"Good. I had started thinking that you were just going to run head first into the without a plan." Rog said as he started to laugh a little bit. "I mean I remember that one time that you attacked those pirates without any sort of plan." 

"I still won that day and besides, those were just a bunch of stupid pirates that did not know to attack our ship. I know that these are monsters that have some sort of plan themselves and I mean to crush them if I can without little lose of life by using a well thought out plan." 

"Good." Rog looked up and pointed his finger towards the mountain. "The mine you speak of is visible now." Contru turned his head towards the mountain and saw it. He raised his hand up and slowly all the chocobos came to a stop. 

"Dismount and rest for a little bit." Contru got off of his chocobo and waited until Rog was off of his. "I think I might have an idea that works, but I want to discuss it with you at first before I say it to everyone else." 

"Understandable." Rog signaled for someone to come and take their chocobos and they went off behind a tree from the rest of the troops. "So, what have you been thinking?" 

"I originally wanted to be there before the monsters, now I realize that if we let them get there first we will have a better chance of defeating them." Rog looked at him wondering what he was thinking. "I am not saying getting there like hours after them, I mean like minutes. If we get there at the right time then they will be trapped by the mountains on one side and then us on the other. We might be able to cause them enough confusion that we can beat them." 

"I understand what you mean and that is most likely the only way that we will be able to win. We should tell everyone else now." 

"Right." Contru and Rog came out from behind the tree and started to where everyone was when one of the soldiers came running to them. 

"Sirs, we have spotted the monsters!" Contru and Rog went to where the man pointed and lowered themselves on the ground as they got closer to the edge of the hill they were on. They crawled right up to the apex and poked their heads out. They could see the army walking in formation towards the mines, which were only about another ten miles away. 

Rog looked over to Contru. "It was a good thing we stopped here or we would have been spotted by them and wiped out." 

"Yes, it was a very good thing. Come on, we have to inform everyone on the plan." Contru slowly started moving towards the men on his stomach and when he felt it was safe got up and walked the rest of the way to tell everyone the plan. 

~

Azeral slowly lead the troops towards the mines. The town was under siege and with all the troops fighting off the monsters there, he would not have to worry about anyone trying to stop him at the mines. 

__

"Too bad I won't be able to eat some man flesh. Maybe after we have the mythril I will go to the town and make sure that everything_ is taken care of."_ He started laughing out loud getting some weird looks from the other monsters but he didn't care, all he cared about was getting done what he needed to and eating as much as he could. He could taste the man flesh already as he continued the march to the mines. 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix. 

Chapter 16

Cecil had been in the cabin for quite some time, just sitting there thinking. He ran his hand threw his white hair and could feel all of the dust and dirt that was in it. Cecil breathed deeply threw his nose and could smell the disgusting smell the cave had put on him. _"I really need a bath but I do not have anytime for that now."_ Cecil lay down on his bed again and looked up at the ceiling above him. His thoughts drifted back to Golbez and the tower. _"How could he have done that with the tower. No one has ever been inside of that thing before, and he seems to be able to not only get inside but also to reactivate it to full function. Something is not right about all of this at all, how could he know how to do everything with that tower…"_ Suddenly the ship moved around and Cecil almost fell out of his bed. Cecil heard something fall and looked on the floor. Two swords were lying on the ground. One sword was the one he received on Mt. Ordeals when he became a Paladin and the other one was the strange sword that he had found in the Waterways under Baron. According to what Cecil heard from the spirit of the King that he was now the ruler of Baron by pulling out that sword, that was the way the kings had been determined for years, at least that was what Cecil had heard. Cecil picked up one of the swords and removed them from the scabbard they it in. 

The Legend, the sword he had acquired on Mt. Ordeals, seemed to be very old. The blade was worn out quite a bit and could barely cut anything. Cecil had learned that the hard way while fighting the fiend of water, Cagnazzo. The blade seemed to give off a very soft faint white glow though. Cecil had thought that it did that because of the holy power that was inside of it because it had belonged to some warrior that was on the mountain…that had called him son. Cecil still wasn't sure at why that was because he had never known his father, or his mother. The King of Baron had raised him like his own son. 

Cecil put down the Legend and picked up the Ancient, the sword he had found in the Waterway. This blade seemed to be very sharp and in very good condition, even though it had been in cave, stuck in the ground, since the King had last removed it. It seemed to be normal, with the exception of the link to the Crown of Baron. 

Cecil placed the Ancient back into its scabbard and set it down so that the handle was towards him. He looked right under the guard for the blade. On it lay a name inscribed on it. "Kokkol." Cecil had never heard of anyone by that name that made swords. Cecil had heard of most of the sword smiths in the world, but the name Kokkol had never come up. The Legend also had the same name on it. Cecil had not idea how that could be, but he let it go. No reason to think about it now because there was nothing he could do. Cecil brought his thoughts back to the tower that they were approaching. Cecil didn't even know its name, he just knew that the tower had to be dangerous. 

Cecil slid the two swords back underneath his bed and walked out of the room. When he cam back up on deck he saw that nothing had changed. They were still behind the Redwing ship in front of them and the town was slowly getting closer. Cecil moved to the front of ship and stood there looking out into the sea with the wind blowing through his hair. Cecil started to remember when he had first been given command of the very same ship they were behind. It had been a dream come true for him. The King had given him the highest honor in the entire Kingdom and now the Kingdom of Baron was without a king, no sign of any human troops, and now completely defenseless to whatever attacks could come down on the people. Cecil hated leaving the people of the town alone like that but he had no choice. Golbez needed to be stopped before his plan was realized. 

Cecil inhaled deeply and a smell went across his nose. The smell was like that of Rosa. It smelled like fresh flowers, which is how Rosa always managed to smell like every time Cecil was with her. She knew too that he loved that smell so she would always make sure that she could please him in that way. Now though Cecil didn't have her with him. Cecil could almost feel like he was losing a war inside of him because his heart was being torn apart because she wasn't there. Cecil needed Rosa much more than he ever though he did and it was driving him mad that she couldn't be by his side to reassure him that what he was doing was right or just to smile at him and make his clouds go away. She is what kept him human when he used the dark sword and now Cecil realized that he needed her more than ever before. 

Cecil looked back up and saw they were getting closer to the tower and that it seemed to radiate with evil. Cecil could feel an evil presence inside of it as well as something that was sleeping…waiting for its moment to come out and do what it was meant to do. 

Cecil pulled back from the rail a little bit, shocked at what he had just felt. Cecil had never been able to feel evil like that before, but now all of a sudden he was able to almost see what was inside of the giant metallic tower in front of them. Things were getting stranger by the day and Cecil didn't know how to stop anything that was going on. Cecil moved towards the back of ship, knowing that everyone's eyes were on him and stayed back there to clear his mind for what was about to come. 

~

Contru and Rog had waited until the enemy was out of sight before they began to move their small force closer to them. The monster army had moved quickly across the small plain that lead to the mines. Contru and Rog were moving very slowly to make sure that they weren't discovered too soon. After a certain point though the monsters had sped up to a run and that meant that the chocobos were able to just slowly walk without exerting themselves. Contru had sent scouts up on ahead so that they would know just when to strike at them. Contru and Rog were leading the rest of the soldiers as the scout cam running up. 

"Captain Contru! The monsters have come up to the mines and stopped, they sent in a small force to see if any resistance is there." Contru was about to say something when the other scout came running. 

"Captain! They are moving in now!" Contru motioned with his hand for them to go to the back of the group and using hand signals started the charge. They were only about twenty yards from the base of the mines themselves so they would be there quickly. Contru started to see the mountain rise higher above them and within seconds they could see the top of the opening into the mines. Contru slowed down and all the chocobos stopped and closed off the small little valley that led into the mines. The monsters didn't seem to be paying much attention but they were going in and out of the mines and bringing out full carts of mythril. 

"Why are they taking the mythril!?" Rog shouted as he looked around. "What would they need with so much mythril?"

Contru just shook his head and looked at Rog. "I do not know, but we will stop them here before they find where the people are hiding." Contru pulled out his sword and everyone else soon followed. The sound of metal being pulled out of scabbards pulled some of the monsters attentions towards the hill. As more monsters started to look up, the charge began. 

Some of the monsters started to position themselves to be the first wave against the attack as the rest kept about their business. As the chocobos got closer down, the valley narrowed causing the row from being just one to grow until it was two deep and then three deep until the valley narrowed so much that they were five deep charging at the enemy. The first line of monsters that was there was almost entirely annihilated within seconds. The five rows of swords couldn't be avoided forever and the chocobos continued onwards staying together in a group as planned. Their strength was in the group because with them being in a group it would be like a giant boulder running over the monsters which would be a lot harder to stop than smaller groups. 

Contru and Rog were running around heading for the biggest groups of enemies that they could find to take out so to reduce the numbers as much as possible. Just as the group was about to turn around and start heading towards another large group an arrow flew out from nowhere and hit a chocobo that was right in the middle of the group, causing all those behind him to trip over it and fall over. Contru and Rog didn't realize what happened until they were a good distance away from them. 

"Dammit!" Rog shouted as the others turned to help, but it was already too late. With the hammer broken, the anvil was falling. 

The monsters were quick to start swarming in like a hoard of locusts and they had already killed half of them when Contru, Rog, and the rest of the knights arrived to help. They quickly tried to get reassembled but realized that they were surrounded. 

"Contru, I think we're done for." Rog said as he looked around trying to figure out something to do. 

"We may be down Rog, but we are not out." Contru looked around for anything that he could use to his advantage. "Break up and strike!" Contru yelled. All of the chocobos ran straight forward which threw the monsters off for a little bit, just enough time so that they could break down the line of enemies that was around them. 

Contru looked around to try to get everyone back together but saw that everyone was to far spread out to be able to reform the hammer. Contru decided it would be best to stay split up because trying to reform would take time they didn't have. Contru started slashing at every monster that was around him, trying to keep himself from being killed. Contru planted his sword into a monster's head and pulled it out then swung it around in front of him, blood flying off of the blade into the air around him, to hit another one. Contru took a quick survey of the battlefield to see if he could spot the commander. As he quickly looked around in the little time he had before more monsters could attack him he saw someone pointing out orders to other people. 

"So there's the commander." Contru smile as he kicked his chocobo up to a run heading right for the leader. Contru slashed at whatever he could as he ran, but he never took his eyes off of the leader. He was determined to kill the monster and maybe then cause enough chaos to get the rest to run. 

Contru was getting closer to him and cleared the last few monsters when the leader looked right at him. Contru pulled his blade over by the left side of his head to be able to attack on either side quickly. The monster then drew his sword and starting running right at Contru.

__

"What is he thinking!?" Contru said in his head as he continued to lead his chocobo right at the monster. 

Just as they were getting close together the monster ducked down and vanished. Contru then felt his chocobo fall out and let go of the reins. Contru rolled on the ground and when he turned to face the commander saw that he sword was right in his chocobo's chest. He had done something Contru had never seen, go underneath the chocobo to avoid being hit by the sword. The monster pulled his sword out and licked the blood off of it. 

"Chocobo blood is good but human blood is so much better. It looks like I'll be able to have man flesh after all today." The goblin said as he handled the sword. The sword was like most goblin swords, which had a curve after the first two inches of the blade that made it look like a giant hook. The blade was also black as night with the only color on it being the chocobo's blood dripping down it. 

Contru stood up and held his sword out in front of him ready to duel. "No you won't because I will be the only human you fight this day." 

"We'll see about that, pathetic human." The monster said as he readied himself for battle. 

~

Rog was slashing down trying to fend off the monster hoard that was slowly getting closer and closer to him. Rog took down his tenth one in the past minute and saw a brief moment of freedom from battle. Rog looked up and couldn't see Contru anywhere on the battlefield. Rog saw a little rise near him and he went up it. When he was on top of it he was able to see much more of the battlefield. That's when he noticed Contru fighting on foot against a monster. Rog recognized instantly that Contru was fighting the leader because if that had been a normal monster, then it would have been dead a while ago, but Contru was struggling against it. Rog had the chocobo jump down and start on a dead run to get to where Contru was. 

Rog was aiming right for the leader, using his chocobo to knock other monsters out of the way. Rog was right getting closer when the leader turned around and saw Rog coming right for him. The monster jumped off to side but as he did, slashing at the chocobo's legs causing the chocobo to fall down and take Rog with him. 

After Rog was able to get out of the reins and the saddle that he was stuck in he looked toward where he heard swords hitting each other. He saw that Contru was fighting with the leader still and that he seemed to be losing the battle. Rog looked down and his chocobo and saw that one of its legs was slashed open. He pulled out some cloth and tied it around the leg of the giant bird and slowly petted its head. 

"Everything will be okay, just wait right here and rest." Rog then picked his sword up from the group where it had fallen and went running towards the leader. 

~

Contru could feel the sweat coming down his face. This monster was very strong and was not going to stop at all until he was dead. Contru tried to push against the sword that was slowly pushing him towards the ground. Finally, after what seemed like years Contru was able to push the monster away and step back a little bit. Contru was breathing hard while the monster didn't seemed to be phased at all. 

"You humans are so weak. I often wonder how you became the dominant people on this planet while us goblins had to go into hiding." 

Contru caught his breath a little bit and just smiled at the monster he was staring down. "That is a simple answer. Humans beat you back before and will do it again. Maybe this time we'll kill you off so you cannot return." Contru positioned himself ready to attack the goblin. Just as he got set, he took off in a blind dash towards the goblin. 

The goblin just stood there waiting until as Contru was about halfway there he moved out of the way and saw himself charging right at Rog. Contru stopped as best he could and dove off to the right of Rog so they wouldn't collide. Contru rolled on the ground and sprung right back up, looking right at his friend. 

"Nice of you to join me Rog." 

Rog was getting up himself, brushing off some dirt from his armor. "Nobody hurts my chocobo and gets away with it, besides, it looked like you could use some help with this ugly thing." 

"Sure could." Contru said as they walked towards each other. Once they were right next to each other, Contru whispered into Rog's ear. 

"This goblin is very powerful and fast, we had best not to attack from different sides because we could end up hitting each other instead."

"Yeah I agree, he seems to have eyes in the back of his head, or just some of the best hearing that I've ever seen. We should just attack him both from the front; he should fall after a while. He cannot possibly hold both of back forever." Contru nodded his head in agreement and they both turned to face the goblin. 

The commander was just standing there, leaning on the hilt of his sword looking at them. "Are you two done finally? Good, now I can kill you two now." He picked up his sword and stood there, waiting for them to make the first move. 

Contru rushed in first and Rog followed quickly behind. Contru slashed at the goblin as he dodged out of the way, but Rog's blade was coming from the same direction that he was dodging too. 

The goblin was able to deflect Rog's sword while at the same time moving out of the way of Contru's next attack. He then slashed forward while both Contru and Rog were still off balance from the attacks they had done. Both of them were able to avoid the blade, but it put them out of distance to make a counter attack. Before they could try to get into reach of the goblin, he has already started forward with another attack of his own. 

Rog was able to deflect the blade himself while Contru went in with an attack of his own. The goblin pulled a short knife out of his belt and deflected Contru's blade away and then threw the knife at Rog's head. 

Rog had to duck down to avoid the knife, which caused him to fall down onto the ground. The goblin lifted his blade high over his head but when he went to pull it down found that he couldn't. He looked over to his right and saw that Contru was holding his own blade back with his. Rog then lifted his blade and slashed upward, catching the goblin in his arm as well as putting a big dent in the armor he was wearing. 

The goblin staggered backwards as he was grabbing his arm trying to stop the black blood that was coming out between his fingers. "You're the first human that has ever put a mark on me, but it doesn't matter one bit. Now you will die." With that the goblin reached behind him and pulled a second blade out. This blade was exactly the same as the one he had before. "Now you will die." 

Suddenly the goblin took off with lightning speed and was on top of Rog and Contru before they could have a chance to prepare. Both of his blades came down with as much force as the one had come before with both hands. Contru and Rog were knocked back a little bit, but the goblin kept on charging. He swung his swords and knocked them back even further. With each swing he was knocking the two warriors back. 

Contru and Rog knew that it was only a short matter of time before they were going to break and lose this war of power. The blades came down again and Rog was forced down to his knee because he wasn't able to deflect the sword well enough. Contru tried to cover for his friend but ended up being knocked down, falling over his friend. As they scrambled to get up they both saw a blade pointing at their throats. 

The goblin was smiling down at them almost at the point of laughing at them for what had happened. "You humans thought you could defeat me, the great Azeral and now look at you, lying on the ground ready to die. I will say though that you humans were the toughest ones that I have fought in a long time being able to actually hit me that is." He looked quickly over at his arm and then back down to Contru and Rog. "You'll be the one to pay for hurting me, human." Azeral pulled back the blades a little bit to deliver the final blow, when he turned his head. He seemed to be listening to something. His blades lowered down and he looked at them. "You have just lucked out, you're deaths won't come today but be warned, if you come against Golbez, you will die." With that Azeral turned around and headed off in the direction of where his army was. 

Rog and Contru scrambled to their feet and looked at what was happening. The monster army was slowly leading its way out with as much mythril that could be taken out with them. They had filled all the carts that transported mythril out of the mines to the surface and were taking them to where one of their airships was waiting. Contru looked over the battlefield and saw that not many men were left alive, only about a dozen of the twenty they had come here with. There were some monsters' bodies on the ground, but not enough to show that this attack had done anything to hurt the enemy. 

"This was a complete waste." Contru said while kicking a head of a monster that was in front of him. "They didn't even go for the people at all, all they wanted was the mythril. Fourteen people lost their lives because of the damn mythril!" Contru kicked another head on the ground that sent it sailing a pretty good distance in the air and the ground. 

Rog put his sword back into the scabbard and just stood there, seeing what had happened. "Contru, we better get going with the citizens. If we are in this bad of shape imagine what the town looks like." Rog looked over to Contru who was bent close to the ground. 

Contru rose up and looked right at Rog. "You are right. We need to get moving now." Contru started moving down to where the men had started to gather to see what was left of their chocobo force. Rog went over and got his chocobo who was having some trouble walking but would be fine with some time. 

The total number of men that had survived had only been six, including Contru and Rog. About a dozen chocobo had survived because once the rider was gone the chocobos had gone running and got to safety. They started coming back when it was just the humans. Contru sent two of the men to get the villagers out from the cave they were in so that they could return to the town and start the clean up there, which Contru knew was going to be a lot. The villagers started to come out of the cave and see the carnage that had happened as Contru and Rog finalized the trip back. 

~

Cecil was standing right on the edge of the rail as he looked out onto the tower in front of them. They were now right outside of it waiting for the Redwing ship to make its move on what to do next. Slowly the Redwing ship rose higher into the sky and the Enterprise followed behind it. As they were going up they noticed a landing platform. The Redwing ship stopped over it and the Enterprise did the same thing. As they were hovering over the platform the ship started to settle down on to it and landed even though the engines had not slowed up at all. 

Cecil turned around to Cid. "Cid, what is going on!?" 

"The ship's landed on her own. I think we're being pulled onto the platform. I'm going to cut the engines." Cid then flipped some switches and the ship slowly quieted down. The Redwing ship took off higher into the sky and vanished before too long. 

Cecil looked towards the building and saw what appeared to be a door. "Well it looks like we have no choice but to go into the tower from here." Cecil went over and threw the rope ladder over the side and started climbing down. Everyone else soon followed down and took the short walk across the platform to the door. 

They went into the door very cautiously with Cecil in the lead with his sword drawn. Inside it was pitch black and the only light was coming from outside through the doorway. Once Cid, who was last in line stepped inside, the door slammed shut and darkness surrounded them. Suddenly a light appeared in the middle of them and when Cecil turned around saw that it was Tellah who was creating the light. Cecil started to lower his sword but then a jolt seemed to send them upwards. They were slowly moving upwards and as they got higher up, some light started to appear. The elevator kept moving until they were level with the floor around them. The four warriors stood there in amazement as the room was around them. The entire room was covered in metal and light seemed to be coming from everywhere. Cecil moved forward a little bit and continued to look around with everyone else. Cecil then realized that Kain was nowhere to be seen. 

"Kain!" Cecil shouted at the room. 

"Come out!" Cid added on after a few seconds seeing that no one was coming. 

Suddenly, a voice appeared and seemed to be coming from all over the room, it was Kain. "Keep still! First, Master Golbez would like a word." 

Tellah stepped forward in front of Cecil and started to look around. "Golbez!!" 

"Well done, Cecil. You have far exceeded even my expectations." The voice said with a slight smirk at the end. 

"Wretch! Show yourself!" Tellah yelled, trying to figure out where Golbez was. 

Golbez ignored the Sage and continued on. "Rosa stands besides me at the top of this tower. Bring the crystal here, and we will make the trade." 

"She had better be safe." Cecil said looking up at the ceiling. 

"You had best hurry…before she ends up dead." Golbez started to laugh as he trailed off and the voice vanished. 

Cecil stopped looking at the ceiling and looked at everyone with him. "We better get moving." Cecil said as he started jogging to try to find his way through the tower to find his love. 

~

Contru and Rog were at the head of the column of people that were slowly making their way back to Mythrila. Contru and Rog were walking along with another one of the soldiers. The other three soldiers were on chocobos because they had injuries to there legs that would cause them to be left behind. The rest of the chocobo's were occupied by some of the older people that had been in cave. 

"How much longer do you think we will be before we get back to the town?" Asked one of the villagers. 

Contru turned his while he continued to walk. "We should be there in about an hour. We have to take it slow because we have such a large number of people and need to make sure that no one gets left behind." Contru turned his head forward and rubbed his face with his dirty hand. "If one more person asks that question…" Contru said under his breath. 

"You won't do anything at all." Rog said quietly next to him. Contru just looked over to him and smiled. That was first smile that he had since the battle had begun. Since the walk had started Contru had thought about what exactly had happened. Contru knew that this had all been his fault. Rog and the others had told him that it wasn't his fault and that he had done his best. If anything Rog should be held accountable for what happened as well because he was co-commander of the army as well. Contru knew that he shouldn't have pulled the chocobo riders out of the town. But then he kept thinking that what if they had been planning on killing the people in caves and if wouldn't have come. There were so many thoughts running through his head that he did not notice the mayor come up next to him. 

"Contru." Contru looked up to face the mayor who was riding one of the chocobos. "I want you to pick up the pace of this group. We need to get back into Mythrila as soon as possible and start working on repairing anything we can so that we can fight off another attack. I need you to get started on getting more people ready to fight." The last comment sent Contru over the edge. 

"What the hell do you mean train more people to fight!?" Contru yelled at the mayor as he stopped. 

The mayor stopped his chocobo and looked down at Contru. "We need to be prepared in case they come back." The mayor had a serious glare on his face directed at Contru, but that didn't phase the warrior at all. 

"I am not about to train more people to die! We lost eighteen of the Chocobo Knights alone and they were our best fighters! I'm confident that the numbers lost in the town are going to be much higher! I'm also confident that they won't be coming back either. They came to take mythril and they walked off with tons of mythril. That's all Golbez sent them to do. If mythril's all they want, they have the damn ore!" 

"Shut your mouth this instant Contru! You will do what I tell you!" The Mayor seemed ready to get down and hit Contru. "That mythril is what keeps this town from going under into nothing. It isn't just some damn ore!

"If you care about the mythril so much, then why don't you protect it yourself. I'll personally train you with a sword because I am not about to send more people to die protecting something that isn't even alive! Another thing, those mines are so deep, that they most likely didn't even take a tenth of what's in there! This group won't be moving any faster because unlike you, we're walking! If you want to get back to the town so damn bad, I'll have the rest of the remaining soldiers go with you into the town while Rog and I stay here with the townspeople, or better yet, you can just go by your damn self!"

"How dare you speak to me in this manor Contru! You-" He was cut off by Contru though. 

"How dare you assume you can order me around about town defense measures! I know much better when to fight and when not to. If you want me to continue to protect Mythrila, let me do it my way so that more innocent lives don't have to die!" 

"When we get back to town Contru, you and I will have a talk." The mayor turned around and rode back to where he had been in the line. 

Contru turned and started walking forward again and Rog continued next to him without saying a word. 

~

Cecil and Yang were leading in front of Tellah and Cid as they continued through the passageways of the metallic tower they were in. Kain had called it the Tower of Zot but Cecil wasn't sure of the name himself. All he knew was from the little history he had read of this tower. The tower seemed to be set up in a maze like pattern though because Cecil could swear that every other turned seem to look the same. The first floor had been fine, but the second floor seemed to send them in complete circles. 

"Dammit!" Cecil yelled as he stopped again. Cid and Tellah stopped right behind him while Yang walked a little in front of him. "This is right where we started." Cecil looked and saw the same door they had entered through looking right back at them. Cecil knew this was the same door they had entered from because he had Tellah melt a little bit of the metal near the door to make sure they didn't confuse this door for the exit. 

Cecil turned around and tried to think. They had been done here for too long, then needed to move onto the next floor before anything could happen to Rosa. Cecil started thinking about what he could do to find his way out when he felt something hit his mind. He could almost feel…evil. Cecil started to walk around towards where the evil presence was coming from. Everyone else started to follow him not having any clue what was wrong with him. Cecil eventually find his way to a passage that he hadn't seen before and when he went down it all the way found a door, this one without the melt metal near it. Everyone came around him and looked at him. 

"How in tarnation did you the exit Cecil?" Cid asked while scratching his head. 

"I just followed some evil power and I was lead here. I guess that my Holy power is getting stronger each day now and I can sense evil. We have no time to be worrying about this though, we need to get moving." Cecil was the first into the door and moved quickly up the stairs that were in a spiral fashion. 

Cecil came through a door at top and saw a horde of monsters in front of him. Cecil pulled out the sword that was at his side a rushed right in. Cecil started to slash through anything that was coming at him. Most of the enemies were just Imps so they were going down without a fight at all. They even started to run away from Cecil after a little bit even though they outnumbered him. Cecil was just about to slash down another Imp when it burst into flames. Cecil jumped back a little bit and watched as all the Imps that were left started to catch on fire and slowly die. Cecil turned around and saw Tellah smiling as he lowered his hands. 

"Next time Cecil, wait for us." Tellah walked past Cecil, heading for the door that the monsters had been guarding. Cecil placed his sword back into its scabbard and brought up the rear behind Tellah, Yang, and Cid. Tellah was just about to open the door when he stopped and took a few steps back. 

"Tellah, what is wrong?" Cecil asked coming up next to Tellah. 

"I can feel an evil force…" Tellah looked around the room, trying to find it. Cecil started to focus and could feel it to, he could feel it coming down right on top of them. 

"Boo!" A voice said from nowhere. Cecil had his sword drawn in an instant as was ready to strike down the source of the voice. 

"Charmed." Another voice said. Cecil and his group continued to look around, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. 

Another voice appeared, but this time said much more than the other two did. "We, the Magus Sisters welcome you. We serve Valvalis, Devil of Wind." Suddenly three women appeared between them and the door. 

"Mindy! Sandy! Cindy!" All three said in unison. Each woman was very different from each other. One as very tall and very skinny, while another was short and fat, and the last appeared to be a little child, not much older than either Rydia or Porom had been. The tall one took a step forward and smiled at them. "Thank you for playing and good night." 

Cecil griped his sword tighter and watched as the women lined themselves up in a pattern with the short in front, tallest in back. 

"Ready Cindy? The tall one in back said. 

The fat one in the middle nodded her head. "Cast the spell, Mindy!" 

The short one in front giggled and turned her head. "Okie, reflect it!" The tall one, Sandy then cast a Wall spell onto the middle one, Cindy. After that Mindy cast a lightning aimed right for her sister. The Wall spell however reflected the spell back towards Cecil and his group. 

"DELTA ATTACK!" The all yelled in unison as the lightning spell went right towards Cecil. Cecil was able to jump out of the way, but when the spell hit the wall it blew a huge hole in it. 

Cecil looked back and saw the damage from it. "We need to stop them from doing that attack again! Take one of them out!" Cecil got up and charged right in and was able to hit Mindy with his sword, almost instantly though the girl started to be healed by Cindy. Cecil got out of the way as Sandy tried to attack while he was distracted. 

Tellah shot a fireball at Cindy, but the Wall spell caused it bounce right back at them, almost hitting Cid head on. 

Cecil looked at the Magus Sisters, and then back over to his friends. "Yang, do you think you could take out Cindy there while the rest of us keep Sandy and Mindy distracted?" Cecil knew that would be very dangerous, but he had no other choice. They needed to divide up to be able to divide the sisters. 

"I can do it Cecil." With that Yang took off after Cindy while Cecil went after Mindy. That left Tellah and Cid to deal with Sandy. The only thing that Cecil wanted to do with Mindy was keep her from casting anymore spells because with them being divided up now it would be hard to help each other out in case of a problem. Cecil swiped at Mindy again, causing her to jump around again, breaking her concentration. Cecil kept charging towards Mindy, just trying to keep her from having enough time to cast any spells. Cecil glanced over his shoulder really quickly and saw that Tellah and Cid were doing fine against Sandy and they didn't need him to help them out. Cecil looked back towards Mindy and saw that she had readied a spell. Mindy fired the weak fireball at Cecil who rolled right under it and was able to slash Mindy right down her chest causing her to fall over. Cecil turned and found where Yang was with Cindy and charged right after her. With Yang distracting her she was unable to heal her younger sister. Cecil ran up behind Cindy and dug his sword right into her lower back. Cindy cried out in pain and fell to the ground when Cecil removed the sword. Cecil's sword was dripping blood onto the floor as her stood over her body looking at her. 

Cecil and Yang then turned towards where Tellah and Cid were still fighting with Sandy. Cecil started to run there, blood flowing off his sword, with Yang shortly behind him. Sandy soon realized that she was along because her other two sisters had been taken out. She tried to punch at Tellah but before she could, Cid hit her arm with his hammer cause the bone to break inside. She pulled herself back and her arm just hung there. Cecil stopped next to Tellah and Cid and looked right at her. 

Cecil lowered his sword a bit and walked forward. "If you surrender now, we will not kill you." 

Sandy looked around at her two fallen sisters and lowered her head. "I can't believe the Delta Attack failed…it doesn't matter though because I will kill you before I die!" Sandy started to run right for Cecil with her other arm ready to hit him. Cecil dodged towards the side with her broken arm and swung into her side, causing her to fall down. The cut was deep enough to cause a lot of pain but would not cause death for quite some time. Cecil walked up to her and sliced her throat so that she wouldn't have to suffer. Cecil tore off some of Sandy's skirt that hadn't been covered in blood and used it to wipe off his sword. Cecil then placed it back in the scabbard at his side. Cecil looked at everyone and then at the door. 

"That has to be the last door. Let's go and save Rosa." Cecil walked past everyone and was the first to enter into the door while everyone else followed closely behind. They stepped into a small room that didn't seem to go anywhere. When all four of them were inside the door shut behind them. Then the room seemed to start moving in an upward motion. Cecil remained calm, but ready for anything to happen. The room stopped moving and the wall opposite of the door they entered opened up. Cecil slowly walked out and the rest followed him. 

Cecil looked around the room and saw there was a passage way that lead behind the room that moved. Cecil went down it and saw Golbez standing at the top of some stairs with Kain at his side. 

"Welcome." Golbez said as Cecil and the others came to the foot of the stairs. 

"At last!" Tellah exclaimed. Cecil ignored Tellah and just stared at the dark wizard. He was completely clad in black and he had raven black hair that seemed to hide his face, but only a little. His eyes were a deep red color that didn't seem natural. As Cecil continued to look at him he gave a slight smile showing off perfect white teeth. 

"Where is Rosa!?" Cecil yelled up the stairs. 

Golbez gave a little smirk towards Cecil. "The Crystal first." 

Cecil pulled the Earth Crystal out of his pouch and held it in his hand. "She had better be all right!" 

Golbez laughed openly at Cecil this time and looked right into his eyes. "Hand over the Crystal now or she dies." 

Cecil was taken aback by that comment, but started up the stairs. It only took a few seconds to make it up the small amount of stairs. Cecil then held out the Crystal to Golbez. "Take it." Cecil's eyes were hard as he stared into Golbez's evil eyes. "Where is Rosa?" 

Golbez took the Crystal and placed it into his pouch at his side. "Rosa? There is o Rosa." 

"What!?" Cecil exclaimed and went to reach for his sword, but somehow he was stopped. He then realized that Golbez was stopping his movements. 

"You sick bastard!" Cid yelled from the bottom of the stairs. 

"Return her this minute!" Tellah yelled while slowly coming up the stairs. 

Golbez started laughing so hard that he threw his head into the air. "Ignorant dotard. Have you any idea with whom you are dealing?" 

Tellah continued up the stairs, a fire burning in his eyes. "How could I ever forget the monster WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER!?" Tellah ran the rest of the way up stairs and shoved the frozen Cecil out of his way and went rushing in towards Golbez. "Vengeance will be mine." 

Tellah swung his staff, which Golbez just backed up to avoid. Tell then started to power up some magic spells. The first one he used was a green blast. Cecil knew that it was called Virus and it was a stronger version of a Poison spell. Golbez easily deflected the attack. Tellah then started to power up another attack. He let it loose and a giant fireball started charging for him. Golbez just stood there and a shield appeared around him and protected him. 

Sweat started to appear on Tellah's brow but he kept on charging up spells. Tellah released two close together the first one was a giant ice shard and the second was a huge lightning bolt from his hand. Golbez deflected the ice shard and stopped the lightning while his hand. 

"Such feeble spells. A vain attempt at revenge." 

Tellah was ready to pass out but he was still standing on both feet. "I must cast Meteo." Tellah said just loud enough for everyone to hear. 

"No!" Cecil yelled as he stood back up now that Golbez had finally released him from the spell that he had cast on him. 

"It will destroy you!" Yang yelled as he started to move up the stairs to try to stop Tellah. 

"I have no choice…" Tellah started to focus all of his remaining strength and life into the spell as Yang got closer he found that he could not get near enough to Tellah to stop him because of the spell. Tellah continued to put everything he had into the spell and then looked up at Golbez with a smile. Witness my final power!" Tellah then threw his hands forward and giant meteors started to appear out a vortex and headed straight for Golbez. Golbez tried to stop the attack but the Meteo spell ended up going right through his defenses and hitting him hard. 

"I-Impossible" Golbez said as he fell down to one knee. Kain grabbed his head and fell unto his knees until he just fell flat on the floor face first. 

Tellah was lying flat on the ground with no movement at all, his breathes were shallow and he could feel that end was soon coming. 


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 17

Golbez was just starting to stand up after he had gone down onto his knees. "Ugh…How could he know Meteo..?" Golbez said as he saw Cecil, Yang, and Cid go up to Tellah's side.

"Tellah!" Cecil yelled as he stood over his friend. Cecil could tell that there was nothing in him that could be saved, Tellah had used his life force to cast the spell so there was nothing Cecil could heal to stop Tellah from dying.

Golbez smiled through his black hair and looked down upon his enemies. "It matters not. I have the Crystal. Kain." Golbez waited for Kain to respond, but he said nothing and continued to lie there. "The Meteo broke my spell over him. So be it, he no longer serves any purpose. Mark me, Cecil. Someday I will destroy you." Golbez started to turn to walk away, but Cecil shot up and drew his sword and quickly came behind Golbez, but Golbez saw him coming.

Golbez turned around and placed his hand in front of him. "Impudent fool!" Golbez powered up a spell and fired it directly into Cecil's chest. Cecil went flying backwards and into a nearby wall, dropping his sword as he slid down to the floor. Golbez seemed to be ready to power up another blast but all of a sudden his face changed; his eyes opened wide as he looked at Cecil.

"Ugh…I can't…" Cecil said as tried to get up to fight back.

"You…" Golbez said as he lowered his hand and looked at Cecil. A look of shock went across Cecil's face as Golbez just stood there. "What is going on…aagh!" Golbez grabbed his head like it was in pain. When he looked back up, the look that he has before he had fired the spell at Cecil had returned. "Next time, for certain." Golbez said as he walked out the door.

"Cecil" Yang said as he ran up to his side along with Cid.

"Y'alright there?" Cid asked helping Cecil up.

"Yeah…Meteo must have weakened him." Cecil thought as he remembered about Tellah. "Tellah!" Cecil ran up to his side again and got down on his knees.

Tellah saw that everyone was around him, but he looked only at Cecil. "…I failed…"

"Keep still!" Cid said as Tellah tried to move around.

"I'm such a fool…I lost myself…in hatred. Avenge my daughter…for me…I beg you…" Tellah said as he drew his last breath.

"Tellah!" Cecil yelled as he saw the remaining life force leave Tellah's body. Yang had a shocked look on his face as he sat at his head, looking down on the Sage.

"Get up, you old…" Cid said as he was holding back tears. Everyone stayed quiet as they sat around Tellah's body. "…I'll bet yer daughter's showerin' you with praises right now." Cid said as some tears started running down his checks.

Cecil looked right at Tellah, with tears flooding down his face. "Tellah, Anna, on my life…we will avenge you!" Cecil yelled as he looked up towards the sky. Golbez had made two mistakes now. First kidnapping Rosa and now Tellah's death, he would pay dearly for all the grief that he had brought upon Cecil and the rest of the world. Cecil stood up and looked away from Tellah's body and saw Kain still lying on the floor. Cecil ran over to Kain and started to shake him.

"Kain! Kain!" Cecil yelled as Kain started to move around and sat up finally.

Kain looked up quickly at Cecil, but then looked back towards the ground. "Cecil…I…I don't know what to-"

"It was not your fault. You were hypnotized." Cecil said to his friend trying to comfort him.

Kain looked up at Cecil with a worried face. "But…I retained my consciousness. Rosa…I can't believe I…"

Cecil had totally forgotten about Rosa. "Where is she!?" Cecil exclaimed to Kain who was just starting to stand back up.

Kain realized what Cecil was talking about and shared his concern. "Beyond these doors! We must hurry!" Kain led the way as Cecil and the rest ran through the door. After they got through the door, Cecil could see Rosa tied down to a table and a scythe hanging over her head.

"Cecil!" Rosa yelled when she saw Cecil standing there. Cecil ran over to her and up did the ropes that were tying her down and pulled her off the table just as the scythe came down where her head had been.

Cecil was holding Rosa close as he looked at the table, but then he looked down into her blue eyes and smiled. "Rosa…"

Rosa looked back into his eyes. "I knew you would come." She said as she buried her head into his chest plate. Cecil held her close and when she raised her head to look at him Cecil leaned his head forward and kissed her.

When the kiss ended, Cecil looked into her eyes; she was the only thing in the world to him right now. "I missed you…so much. And I realized…I…" Cecil was saying as he realized that everyone was looking at them, including Kain.

"'I' what!? Spit it out!" Cid exclaimed as the two of them stayed standing there together. Kain started to walk away and Rosa saw it out of the corner of her eye.

"Kain!?" Rosa shouted out as Cecil let her go.

"He is okay now. Tellah's Meteo broke Golbez's spell."

Kain turned towards the two of them and almost shouted at them. "But I was still aware…Yet…Rosa…I wanted to keep you close at any cost!"

Rosa walked towards him a little more, but stopped short of being right next to him. "Kain…"

No one said anything. Cecil had known that Kain had feelings for Rosa, but he didn't know that they were this strong. Rosa was the first one to say anything after the silence that had come.

"Let's fight together, Kain." Rosa said as she looked at the Dragoon.

Kain avoided looking at her, but knew that she was looking right at him. "After all that I have done…It is too late."

Cecil didn't say a word, he still wasn't sure what he wanted with Kain, or if he could trust him.

"Oh! Save the corny drama for later! We gotta scram!" Cid said as everyone was just standing around.

Cecil walked up to Kain and stood in front of him, he had made up his mind. "Let's go, Kain."

Kain briefly glanced up at Cecil, but returned to looking at the ground.

"We need your help more that ever now." Cecil said as he stood in front of the Dragoon. Kain raised up his head and looked and Cecil and Rosa.

"Cecil…Rosa…Thank you." Kain said as he stood tall again and looked at everyone in the room. Cecil started to lead everyone out the way they had come but a laugh halted all of them.

"It seems Master Golbez has underestimated you."

Kain pulled out his spear and started to look around the room. "The Devil of Wind, Valvalis!"

"You disappoint me, Kain. Submitting to a weak imbecile, despite all your powers." Valvalis said from everywhere in the room.

Kain smiled a little bit. "I have simply come to my senses. I have grown sick of siding with freaks like you!"

"You snotty little wretch. I'll enjoy killing you all. With the old man and his Meteo gone, you have no chance."

Kain laughed out loud a little bit and looked right up to the ceiling. "You forget. Fighting in the air is my specialty, too."

Suddenly the room started to have a gale force wind blowing through it and it seemed that something was forming in front of them. The wind seemed to turn into a cyclone in front of them and take shape into a woman. She looked like a normal woman except for the clouds that were around her body and her slight yellowish color to her skin.

Cecil, Kain, and Yang charged in towards the woman who seemed to float out of the way of their attacks. "If that is all you have, then you will die quickly." Valvalis said as she started turning around, and around very fast. Soon a cyclone had appeared around her and was blowing everyone away from her. Cecil, Yang, and Kain were all pushed back to where Cid and Rosa were standing.

Suddenly, Kain jumped high into the air as the cyclone started to move closer to everyone.

Cecil looked up and saw Kain coming down and he went right inside the cyclone. The winds slowed down and everyone saw that Kain had stabbed Valvalis right in her foot, preventing her from moving. Cecil quickly moved in and stabbed her right in her chest.

As the blade went deeper and deeper, Valvalis started to yell out in pain.

Cecil pulled the sword out and Kain pulled his spear out of her foot. Valvalis fell to the ground on her knee and looked up at Cecil and Kain with a smile across her face.

"It's not over…The last Devil of Elements still remains! Regardless, you'll never leave here alive!" As Valvalis collapsed to the ground, the building started to shake. Parts of the ceiling started to fall down around them and cracks started to appear in the walls. The building started to shake even more than before as everyone tried to avoid the debris.

"It's collapsing!" Cecil cried out as he tried to keep his balance and get close to Rosa to protect her from the debris.

"That freakin' broad!" Cid yelled as he looked around the room trying to find an escape.

Rosa, who was standing close to the center of the room, realized that there was only one choice. "Everyone, hold on to me!"

Everyone ran up next to Rosa and placed a hand on her shoulders. Rosa then closed her eyes and started to focus. Soon Rosa started to glow a faint white color. Soon the white aura spread away from her and covered everyone in a little ball. Soon the white grew brighter and everyone was blinded by it. When everyone opened their eyes, they were no longer in the Tower of Zot.

Cecil walked a little bit away from Rosa and looked around. "What the…is this…?"

Rosa looked at Cecil and nodded her head quickly. "Yes, it is your room in Baron." Everyone looked around and started to relax finally and then they started to realize just what had happened.

"Well, I'll be jiggered." Cid said as he sat down on Cecil's bed. Kain moved towards where the door was to Cecil's room and turned and faced everyone, but talked to Cecil.

"Cecil, we still have our work cut out for us." Kain said as the room silenced and looked at him.

"Is this about the crystals?" Cecil asked as he sat down in one of the chairs in his room.

"Yes." Kain said as he continued to look at Cecil.

"We have lost Troia's Earth Crystal to Golbez, which means he now holds all the crystals." Cecil said while looking down at the floor.

"Not quite." Kain said as all the eyes in the room looked on him. "He only has four."

Rosa, who was standing behind Cecil, was the first to speak up. "You mean there are more?"

"Of course!" Cid shouted. "So the legends are true after all!"

"Right." Kain said. "The Dark Crystals."

"Alright, listen up." Cid said as he prepared to tell a story. "The crystals of this world are those of light of the "surface" so to speak."

"So, there is a whole set of Dark Crystals as well?" Cecil asked.

"Exactly." Kain said, drawing the attention back to him. "So you see, he only has half of the crystals."

"Well, we know they exist, but where the hell do we find 'em?" Cid said as everyone started to think, except Kain.

"They lie under the surface of the earth…in the underworld."

"Underground!? You sure about this?" Cid asked.

Kain nodded his head before speaking. "I overheard Golbez. He also said that when all the crystals of light and darkness are gathered, the path to the moon will open."

"Literally, a path to the moon?" Cecil asked of Kain.

"I do not know. But this item is the key to unlocking it, supposedly." Kain then reached into a pouch that he had on his back and pulled out a strange looking item. It looked sort of like a key but it was bigger than most keys then Cecil had seen and it looked like it was made out of rock. Cecil took it from Kain and placed it into his pouch. "You are suppose to use it somewhere to open the path to the underworld." Kain said as he leaned against the wall again.

"Where, exactly?" Yang asked.

Kain shook his head at the question. "I wish I knew." The mood seemed to drop in the room quickly.

"Ah, no worries. We'll just fly around the world on the Enterprise 'til we find something." Cid said with a huge smile across his face.

Cecil looked at Cid with a surprised look on his face. "But we lost the airship near the tower."

Cid looked over towards Cecil with a huge smile across his face. "My beloved's equipped with auto-pilot. I'll bet she's flown back here already."

Rosa looked over towards Cid with a small smile on her face. "Cid, what would we do without you?"

Cid laughed as he started to blush. "Alright, let's rest up for our journey in the underworld."

"We might not need to fly all over the world to find the place where we use the key." Cecil said as he moved towards the center of the room.

"Do you have an idea where it might be Cecil?" Kain asked.

"No Kain, I do not. But I know someone who might know something more than we do about this whole situation." Cecil replied.

"Who would that be?" Yang said.

"Contru. He has traveled the world as a trader and the people that know the most rumors and the most about the world are the people that trade with everyone in the world."

"That is very true Cecil. It looks like all those times you spent in books helped out more than I thought it would." Kain joked as he moved towards the stairs. "I say that we take Cid's advice and get some rest before heading out tomorrow."

Cecil nodded his head. "I agree, but there still is something that I do not understand about today. What stopped Golbez from finishing me off at the tower?"

"Cecil?" Rosa said as she walked up to him and put her arm on his back.

"Never mind, let's get some rest." Kain motioned towards everyone to follow him because he could find them rooms easily in the castle while Cecil and Rosa remained and slept in his room.

It was the middle of the night as Contru and Rog were coming into the town with the people that had been in the mines. What they saw was a horrid sight. The wall that had protected the front of the town had been torn down entirely. The remaining walls had huge holes in them where they had been broken down from the inside to allow more monsters to come in. As the group came into the town they saw that all the buildings were still standing, but the inside of the town looked like lake of blood. Contru looked around and saw maybe two dozen soldiers that were moving around moving the dead so that they could have a proper burial. The town smelled entirely like death and decay as the flies had already started to eat away at the bodies. The cries of joy and cries of sorrow started to come out from the women and children as the people started to come into the town.

Contru saw the Council starting to dismount and he just couldn't hold his anger back anymore and started to run towards them.

"Look at what you have caused!" Contru yelled as he continued to approach. "You have caused all these deaths along with what has happened to our town!" Contru was standing right in front of them, only feet away from his own father.

"You have no right to speak like this. I thought that I had told you that you have no right to talk to us in this manner!" The Mayor said as he looked towards Contru. "We need to worry about defending our town still, so you had better get back to work, if you know what's good for you."

"Defend our town!? Defend our town!? The only thing left to defend right now is a bunch of buildings and the bodies of the dead! Look around you and see exactly how many men that we have left! There is basically no one to do anything about defending our town! Even if you got off your lazy butt and picked up a sword to help, it still wouldn't matter!" Contru yelled right in the Mayor's face.

The Mayor just looked at Contru and slapped him across the face. "How dare you say that to me! I was helping this town along well before you were born!"

Contru looked right at the Mayor and clenched his fist. Without warning Contru had raised his fist and punched the Mayor right in the face, breaking his nose. Contru was about to continue going after the Mayor, but Rog grabbed him from behind pulling him away from the Mayor.

"Contru calm down! It's not worth it! Calm down!" Rog said as he continued to pull his friend away. Contru kept trying to break out of Rog's hold but some of the other troops had come up to help Rog keep Contru off the Mayor.

The Mayor was just getting up and was holding his nose. He did nothing but turn around and head towards his house with the rest of the Council.

Contru stopped fighting with the people who were holding him back. He turned to everyone who was watching him and cleared his voice. "Since the Mayor seems unable to lead us at this time, I ask that anyone who is willing to help with cleaning up the town so that we can try to keep our town from turning into a disgusting hovel. If you do not want to help, that is okay, you are free not to, but I ask anyone who can, please help." When Contru finished everyone who had returned from the mines along with all the remaining soldiers had come forward to help with the clean up.

Cecil woke up and looked over to his left to see Rosa's beautiful face staring back at him. Cecil had slept a nice night for the first time in a while. Cecil just figured that because Rosa was safe now that that's the reason his sleep had been restful this time. Cecil got up and started to put his armor back on because he knew that soon they would be leaving to go to Mythrila so they could talk to Contru and Rog about where this gateway to the underworld might be. Cecil had just put his greeves on his legs as the morning sun started to come into his room. Cecil walked towards the small opening that he had for a window and looked outside. He could see the town was already busy this early in the morning. Smoke was coming out of almost all the houses as the morning meal was being cooked and the farmers were already heading out to tend to their fields.

Cecil still couldn't believe that the King had said that he was now the true ruler of Baron. Cecil turned away from the window and went to grab his breastplate but saw that someone had woken up.

"Good morning, Rosa." Cecil said as he picked up the breastplate and started to fasten it on.

Rosa, who was just sitting up in bed, was looking towards Cecil smiling. "Good morning. How soon do you think we have before we have to leave?" She asked as she stood up out of the bed and went over to where he over clothes had been.

"I would guess soon. I would be expecting anyone of them to be coming up soon to get us so that we can leave for Mythrila. It won't be a long trip to the town, but it will be about an hour. We need to move fast though so we can try to beat Golbez to the rest of crystals. If we don't then this path to the moon will open and who knows what will happen after that." Cecil said as he finished putting on the rest of his armor. When Cecil turned around, Rosa was already in her over clothes and looked ready for battle.

"Well we better get moving then, but first we need to head down to the armory so I can get myself a bow and some arrows."

Cecil just looked at her and smiled. "Yes, we better because everyone knows that you are one of the best archers out there." Cecil started to head down the stairs with Rosa following behind him and almost ran into Kain. Both him and Kain stopped.

"I knew someone would be coming to get us soon. All we need to do is get Rosa some weapons and then we'll be ready to go. Tell Cid to get the airship ready and we'll be there shortly."

"That's good because I wasn't in the mood to wake you two up from a sound sleep." Kain said in a joking manner. "I'll let Cid know." Kain turned around and started down the stairs with Cecil and Rosa following behind. When they got outside the spire that Cecil's room was in Kain continued into the main part of the castle as Cecil and Rosa went towards the where all the weapons were kept. Rosa went right towards the bows and started to select through them while Cecil started to look through the arrows to find the best arrows for Rosa to use.

"I got my bow." Rosa said as she started to select arrows herself. Cecil had already filled one quiver and grabbed another one as he saw Rosa filling up one herself. By the time they had finished going through the arrows they had filled six quivers for Rosa to use as she was with them.

Cecil and Rosa where heading through the castle as they heard Cid yelling.

"Keep workin' on that new upgrade I told you about. It had better be done on time or yer gonna git it!"

"Yes boss." Said all of the workmen that had always worked with Cid on the airships. Cecil and Rosa kept on walking and Cid came out right in front of them.

"Are yer finally ready to go?" Cid asked as he kept walking in front of Cecil and Rosa.

"Yes Cid we are. We had to get me some weapons so that I can fight back if I need to so I don't have to rely on Cecil all the time."

"Bah." Was all Cid left as they exited the castle and started to work their way through the town. Cecil and Rosa just followed Cid as they went through the town. Cecil had figured that most people had heard about what had happened and that's why they weren't running up to them to demands answers about the King and what was going on. It seemed that most people were just continuing on with their normal activities. Cecil just hoped now that Golbez had all the crystals on the over world that he would just leave everyone else alone so that they could get their lives back to normal. The best thing that Cecil saw was that there were still some guards that were there and were protecting the town and the castle from the local monsters.

After leaving the town, they quickly saw the airship. It was already running and was ready to take off as soon as everyone else got on board. Cid went on first and Rosa went up next while Cecil went up last. After Cecil was in the ship Cecil closed up the ramp and went up towards the deck. Cid was behind the wheel waiting to take off.

"Go ahead Cid! We're ready to go!" Cecil shouted over the engines. Cid smiled and pulled down his goggles and the ship started to rise up towards the sky. The ship stopped for a second but then went higher into the sky and then started south towards Mythrila.

Cecil immediately went towards where his cabin and was followed closely behind by Rosa. Cecil got into the room and Rosa shut the door quickly behind her.

"Cecil, why do you come to this cabin so quickly?" Rosa asked when Cecil sat down on the bed.

"I wanted to tell you about what happened to me and why I have changed so much so recently." Cecil said looking deep into her eyes.

"Cecil, you don't need to explain anything to me. You are back to the man that I fell in love with. The man that was under the helmet of the Dark Knight was the man that I did not know, not this Paladin that I see in front of me now. This is the man that you were meant to be." Rosa said as she grabbed Cecil hand.

"It is also the King that I am suppose to become as well." Cecil whispered.

"What did you say Cecil? King?" Rosa asked, shocked.

Cecil nodded his head. He reached back behind the bed and pulled out the swords that were there. "Both of these swords have come to be in my possession. The same sword smith made both and both have special meanings to them. This first sword was given to me at the top of Mt. Ordeals." Cecil pulled out the Legend from its scabbard and showed her the sword.

"The sword seems old and in disuse." Rosa said as she looked at the sword.

"The blade is very dull, that's why I don't use it anymore. But the sword belonged to my father, I believe."

"Your father!? Did you met him?"

"No, I did not. I only heard a voice that called me, "My Son." I can only wonder to if that voice really was my father." Cecil looked down and put the sword back into its scabbard. "The other one, I found in the Waterways under Baron. I saw a ghostly image of the true King and he told me that this sword was the sword of the Kings of Baron. According to him, I am now the rightful heir to the throne of Baron."

Rosa just looked at Cecil with amazement in her eyes. "So you are the King of Baron now?"

Cecil only nodded his head before looked back down at the sword.

"Cecil that's great!" Rosa exclaimed. "Now you can set Baron back on the path that it once held before all of this started to happen. Baron will be the country that everyone can turn to and can rely on again."

"It's not that great Rosa. First Golbez needs to be taken care of and even if he is, who knows if the people will ever trust me. I was the Kings puppet and did all his dirty work. No one will want me as the king of the nation that turned its back on its people."

"Cecil, you don't know that. The people still trust you, they believe in you."

"Believe in me? Like your mother does!?" Cecil shouted. Rosa backed away from Cecil a little bit, but kept herself calm.

"Cecil, my mother just needs to see how good of a man you are and then she will realize that you are the best man for me. She just doesn't want me doing the same thing she did, which was falling for a solider and chasing after him, just like I did with you." Rosa said as she got close to Cecil and put her arms around his neck. "I love you Cecil and no one is going to get me to change my mind, not even my mother."

Cecil looked into her eyes and his anger melted away. "I'm sorry about saying what I did. I'm just guess that with everything that's going on is just distracting me and getting me on my edge." Cecil went to kiss Rosa when the door opened. Kain was standing there looking right at the two, not saying a word.

Rosa turned away from Cecil and out of grip to talk to Kain. "What do you need Kain?"

"Cid just wanted me to tell you that we'll be to Mythrila in a very short amount of time, like about ten minutes."

"Thank you Kain, we'll be out there shortly." Rosa said as Kain turned and left, closing the door after him.

"We had better get moving up there so they don't start to worry about us." Rosa started to head towards the door.

"Rosa, about the whole King thing, no one else but you knows so it would be best to keep it that way until things settle down a little bit."

"I understand entirely Cecil. I'll meet you up there." She blew him a kiss and started to head up towards the deck. Cecil turned and put the Ancient back into its scabbard and put both swords back behind the bed. When all of that was finished Cecil went upstairs to join everyone else on the deck.

Cecil came onto the deck and saw Yang just standing near the edge on the starboard side of the Enterprise. Rosa was nearby Cid at the wheel and Kain was at the bow of the ship, standing right on the edge of the ship. Cecil slowly walked up behind Kain and along side of him, as best he could.

"Cecil, you don't need to say anything to me. I know I need to get over it, but it's not something that I can forget about quickly."

"I know Kain. I can understand how you feel about it."

"No Cecil, you can't. You've never had to deal with seeing the woman you love with your best friend. But I know that she loves you and there is nothing that I can do about it. It's funny though, seeing her helps me deal with the pain that goes with knowing she won't be mine." Kain kept looking forward the entire time never seeming to turn his head towards Cecil.

"Kain. I'm glad that you're here because now it feels like all the old times that we shared as we were growing up. I'm glad that we can still fight along side each other like we have before even though everything that has happened recently."

Kain turned his head and smiled at his friend, but only the smile was seen because of his helmet that blocked the upper portion of his face. Cecil looked out towards their destination and could see that smoke was coming from where Mythrila was located.

"Kain, that smoke is coming from Mythrila. They could be in trouble." Cecil turned around and ran back to the stern. "Cid! Can we go any faster?"

"Yea, why do you ask?"

"Smoke is coming from Mythrila, they might be in trouble. We need to get there quickly and see if they are under attack."

Cid smiled and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. "Hold on to yer draws and try to stay in the ship, cause wer gonna be flying!" Cid flipped a few switches along the side of him and the ship picked up some more speed. Cecil held onto Rosa as the ship moved faster towards the town and everyone held onto to what they could. Cid started to descend the ship and started to slow it down, as the town was closer. Cecil looked over the edge and saw that the smoke was coming from outside the town, but the town looked torn apart. Almost all the walls that had been around the town were gone or falling apart. Many of the buildings had damage to them, but all of them were still standing. Cecil saw Kain and Yang looking at the town as well seeing the damage. Cecil looked back down on the town and towards where the smoke was coming from and didn't notice Kain approaching him.

"Cecil, I know what happened here." Kain said as Cecil and Rosa looked to face him.

"It was Golbez, wasn't it?" Cecil asked calmly.

Kain nodded. "All I know is that he sent an army here to get some mythril, but the use for it, I don't know. It looks like they attacked the town to keep the mines open for raiding."

"Contru would've tried to stop them from doing that though…I just hope that he's still alive." Cecil said as the airship landed on the ground.

Cecil started to move towards the stairs that lead down into the ship so that he could exit and find out exactly what happened.

Contru had seen the airship come in and was still trying to calm everyone down as the ship landed right outside of town. Men had started to grab whatever weapons they could find and were getting ready to attack whatever came out of the ship. Contru ran between the airship and the town and turned towards the people of Mythrila who were ready to fight.

"Men of Mythrila! The men that come on this airship are friends, not enemies! Please put down your weapons and stand back! This ship does not carry any monsters like the ones that attacked our town! Please calm down!" Contru seemed to be able to stop the people from approaching the ship just as he heard something open behind him. Contru turned around to look and see who was coming down and saw Cecil running down the ramp. When he saw Contru, it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Contru, I'm glad to see you. I must talk to you and Rog immediately." Cecil said as Rog came up through the crowd, which had started to dissipate seeing they were humans and not monsters.

"Follow me then." Contru said as they started to head over to where the Inn was, which still housed the headquarters for the town. Contru was the first inside and everyone else followed him in to where a private room away from everyone else. Contru pulled chairs away from the wall so that everyone could sit down if they wanted to, but he figured they wouldn't want to sit.

Contru stayed near the back of the room and Rog joined him as everyone filed into the room. When everyone was in the room Cid shut the door and leaned against it. Contru looked around a saw a couple new faces and a one missing.

"First things first Cecil, update me on what's going on, please." Contru said as he sat down into a nearby chair.

"We were able to rescue Rosa, who is right next to me." Cecil said as he motioned towards her.

"It's very good to meet you Contru, and you Rog. You were a big help to Cecil when he was here and I just want to thank you for that." Both Contru and Rog nodded in acceptance and Cecil continued on.

"Over there is Kain, a friend of Rosa and mine. He's a Dragoon." Kain nodded his head slightly but did not bother to speak.

"A Dragoon. You must be the one that came and bought that armor you're wearing right now." Contru said as he looked at him.

"Yes I am. I came to this town and bought this armor. What's the problem?" Kain said, looking towards Contru.

"The problem is that when you came, you came with the Redwings. You were with the enemy and now you are here with Cecil, something doesn't seem right here." Contru got out of his chair and was ready to draw his sword, but Cecil stopped him.

"Contru, calm down. Golbez had him under a spell so that's why he was with them. He didn't have control over himself." Contru calmed down and sat back down in his seat and turned back towards Cecil.

"Where's Tellah Cecil?" Rog asked to try to get the topic off of Kain.

"That's going to take a little more to explain." Cecil started to go into the story of the Magnetic Cave and the Tower of Zot.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 18

Golbez was on the airship, sitting down and trying to regain himself from what just had happened. That old man, Tellah, had learned Meteo some how and with that he had lost control of Kain. It did not matter though because he had everything that he would need for his plans to still work.

Golbez heard the door open in front of him and saw Azeral walk into the room. The goblin bowed low and rose back up with a smile on his face.

"Master, we have all the mythril that you wanted us to get and all the airships have been plated with it."

Golbez, hiding his weakness, nodded towards the goblin. "Good." Golbez stood up slowly and looked down on the goblin. "Have all the airships enter the Tower of Babil."

Azeral looked up at Golbez with a questioning look. "Why must we enter the Tower of Babil, Master?"

Golbez didn't pay much attention to the goblin as he continued to walk towards the door. "We must use the Tower of Babil because Kain had the key that we needed to open up the Underworld, fortunately though, the tower goes all the way to the Underworld so we can just go through it and exit it from down there." Golbez walked out of the chamber, with Azeral close behind, and onto the deck where he could see all the Red Wings lined up and ready to go. Golbez started across the small bridge that was connecting the airship that Golbez had been on with the command ship that Azeral was on. As soon as Golbez was safely across he turned to Azeral.

"Have them plate that final ship with mythril as well and order them to follow us down as soon as it is ready." Golbez went towards the back of the ship and stayed behind the pilot. He saw Azeral cross over to the other ship, issue the orders and return back across. Azeral then signaled to the pilot and he began moving. They were just outside the tower and started to file in.

The tower was wide enough that at least two airships could fit at one time and so after the command ship was in, another ship slowly came in and landed as well. After everything was taken care of, the floor beneath them started to move downward.

Golbez kept to himself thinking about what had happened back in the Tower of Zot, or the very upper portion of this Tower of Babil, and did not understand what had exactly happened. He had seemed to recognize Cecil for a spilt second as something other then the person trying to stop him, it had not made any sense. Golbez took his mind off of that for the moment because there was nothing that could be done about it now, it was in the past, but he had missed his chance of killing Cecil once and for all. He knew in the back of his mind that Cecil was still alive and had survived Valvalis and the collapse of the tower. It seemed those Four Fiends had not been able to do their job. It seemed he would have to do it himself.

The elevator started to slow and the doors in front of them opened up. Before them spread a large docking area that could hold plenty of airships. Azeral had the two ships dock at the furthest points from the elevator so that there would be no issues with the rest of the airships coming down. As soon as they were out of the elevator is started its return trip up to get the rest of the airships. Golbez exited the ship and started towards the Tower itself. Azeral followed after him until Golbez turned and realized he had not given the goblin orders on anything.

"Azeral, once three more airships are down here I want you to leave and start gathering the crystals. Two of them will be easy to get because they are only protected by minimal force. The other two will be more of an issue though so wait on those until I say so." Azeral bowed and headed back towards the ships to prepare. Golbez continued into the tower because his first order of business was to talk to Dr. Lugae and see what the mad scientist had been up to all this time down here.

Cecil had just finished telling them the whole story since they had left Mythrila. Contru and Rog were just silent as they sat there, still in too much shock over what had happened to even speak, but somehow Contru found some words.

"So now where does your quest take you?" Contru asked, voice shaking and head facing the floor.

Cecil looked at Contru, who looked up at him as if knowing he was being looked at by the Paladin. "Now we have to go to the Underworld."

Rog looked up at Cecil with an arched eyebrow. "The Underworld? You mean it's real?"

"I would guess so, that's where Kain says the last of the crystals are."

Contru rose from his chair and looked out the window. Without turning his head he started to talk. "There are more than just the four crystals that are up here then?"

"It appears so. These crystals up here are the Light Crystals while the ones in the Underworld are the Dark Crystals. We need to stop him from getting all eight so he can't do what he has planned."

Contru continued looking out the window; seemingly focus on the outside world. "And how does this involve us then?"

Rosa was the one to speak before Cecil could. "Cecil had said that since you were merchants that you might now about legends around the world that might lead us in the right direction."

"There is one legend that we know of." Contru said, finally turning away from the window. "In Agart the people believe that their ancestors are Dwarves and that one day the mountain north of town will open up and they will be reunited with them again."

"That's great, we should leave immediately if we want to try and beat Golbez to it." Cecil said ad everyone started to rise.

"There's more to it Cecil, but you won't get more out of me unless you take me with you." Contru said, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"What?" Rog exclaimed walking up to Contru. "What are you talking about, going with them? We have to defend this town first Contru, you know that as well as I do."

"Rog, right now I don't care about this town. All the Council wants us to do is train more people to die, which I won't do. I'm going with them so that maybe I can make a real difference and really try and stop this evil from taking over the world instead of sitting here and doing nothing."

"I know what you are talking about, but you just can't go and abandon our town." Rog said as he tried to reason with his friend.

"I know what you are saying Rog, but I won't just sit here with a false sense of hope. Right now I can actually go out and make a difference in the world by going with them. Right now, by sitting here, we are almost helping Golbez because of inaction. The Council seems to have this notion in their mind that everything they are doing is right in this regard, but we should by doing what you said on the way back from Agart that one time, banding together to stop an evil force." Contru calmly said to Rog, but also to everyone else in the room.

"Don't twist my words against me Contru, you know that I only meant those nations that actually could fight such as Fabul and Eblan!" Rog retorted back.

"It doesn't matter Rog, you and I can fight just as good, if not better than the fighters for those nations. I'm going no matter what you say. Cecil needs as much help as he can get and I have decided that I'm offering it to him."

"You're black mailing him is what you're doing! You're forcing him to take your help by not telling him everything about Agart! I could easily tell them that and have them leave you behind!" Rog shouted, his face turning red from the blood rushing to his face.

Cecil finally decided to speak up and stop the fighting between these two. "I actually would like it if both of you would come along. By what you have told me what happened, you sound like very good fighters and I would be glad to have you both fight by my side."

Rog turned to Cecil and just walked away from Contru. "Contru, do whatever you like, but I'm staying here to protect our town." When Rog finished his sentence he left the room and slammed the door behind him.

"Contru, maybe you should stay and-" Cecil started to say but was cut off by Contru.

"He'll be fine. Let me run to my house and grab all of my gear and I'll meet you by your airship." Cecil nodded and they all began filing out of the room.

When Contru got outside he quickly ran over to his house and right into his room. Contru went over by the foot of his bed and pulled a box out from underneath. Contru opened it up and started to pull out all the contents. Inside of the box was a mythril knife with its own belt, a bow and a quiver of arrows, and there was also a small supply of surikens that he had bought from Eblan. He didn't know how to use them at all, but brought them anyway. Contru attached all of the new supplies to him and quickly left his house.

Contru continued through the town quickly, ignoring the salutes and shouts from the men around him. Once he was outside the gate he saw Cecil and Rosa waiting outside the airship. The ship was all started and ready to go, just waiting for the last person to come on board. Contru turned and looked back at his town and bowed his head slightly and then turned and quickly followed Cecil and Rosa up the ramp and soon after the ship had started to rise off the ground. Contru did not know if he would ever be back to this town.

Rog could see the airship lifting off and flying off from his position behind the Inn. He still couldn't believe that Contru would just go and abandon Mythrila like this. The thought of him leaving had never crossed Rog's mind. He knew that Contru had been at odd with the Council, but he didn't think that it would go this far too where Contru would up and leave the town. Rog felt like he was almost being left behind by his lifelong friend. Rog sat down on a box that was nearby and just started to think. He had never seen Contru be like that before. His first priority had always been to make sure the town was okay before doing anything and now when the town needed him the most, he just up and leaves and doesn't even seem to care. The town still needed many repairs done to it to fix all the damage that the battle had caused and a lot of men had died. Contru had been one that inspired hope in the men and now he was gone. What would happen now if the town was attacked again by Golbez? Could Mythrila even survive the next attack, or was Contru right and that the town was no longer anything to Golbez because he had what he wanted from them? Rog was brought from his thoughts by someone shouting for him.

"Commander Rog!" A solider shouted as he was looking around for him.

Rog got up from his seat and followed where the sound of the voice was and saw the man was in front of the Inn and just standing there shouting for him.

"Quiet down man, do you want the entire town to know that you're looking for me?" Rog said with a smile across his face.

"Sorry sir! The Council asked me to find you because they wanted to talk to you and Captain Contru, but he is no where to be seen."

Rog's stomach turned into a giant ball of knots, but he was able to hide it from the solider. "I know where Contru has gone, but it is none of your concern right now. Go back to you duties and I'll go and meet with the Council." Rog returned the salute the solider gave him and started towards the mayor's house to speak with the Council. Rog's own thoughts on Contru would have to wait because right now he had to worry more about what the Council would say or do when he had to tell them about Contru.

Contru was standing on the deck feeling the air rush through his hair. This was the first time that he had ever ridden on an airship and he was enjoying every second of it. Contru was thinking about the way that Rog had looked when he left, but he knew that he would understand eventually. Contru was so involved in looking around the world from the ship that he didn't see or hear Cecil coming from behind.

"Contru, so what is this secret that we need to do at Agart?" Cecil asked as Contru turned to face him.

"The story with that is that the people of Agart think that their ancestors were dwarves that came from under the Earth. They were all living down under the ground peacefully and then the earth opened above them and some of them decided to see what was on the other side and when they came out found a world completely different then the one that they knew down below. An endless sky, oceans of blue water, a sun streaming down on them and land all around them that they could live on and find food on. They set up a small little colony up here and went back and forth for a little bit, but they tragedy hit."

"What happened then?" Cecil asked curious now that Contru had started the story.

"Then an earthquake happened and sealed up the hole that had been created before. All the people that were on the surface were trapped and could not return so they had to learn how to live on the surface and not rely on the under world dwarves to help them. That's the whole story." Contru said looking back over the edge of the airship into the sky.

"I see." Cecil said as he looked off in the distance himself. "Well do you know what we have to do then with the Magma key?"

"There is a well in the town. Rog and I threw stuff down it all the time when we were younger and never heard a bottom. That has to be a clue as to the purpose of the Magma key." Contru said without looking at Cecil. "That's all I really know about this whole thing, but then again, all you asked about was rumor and hearsay anyway."

"That is true, I did just ask for that. I wish you knew for sure though so it's not a wild chocobo chase."

"Hey, legends will be legends but you seemed to have fulfilled the Mysidian one so I have some faith that these are really true." As Contru grinned at Cecil. "So maybe these insane tales about dwarves and such may be true as well."

"I sure hope they are because this is the only way that I think we'll be able to get into the Underworld at this point. We don't have any time to waste trying to find another way."

"I know Cecil. You want to get down there just as much as I do." Contru looked towards the horizon thinking about Azeral and what he had done to Mythrila.

"For some reason I can sense a little bit of revenge in you Contru. This isn't just you going out to get revenge for happened, is it?" Cecil asked firm in tone, but with a face that would see that he did care.

"I won't lie to you Cecil, that is part of it but I won't let it get in the way if I have to make a choice. If it comes down to having to kill Azeral and either saving someone else or having to do something that's more important, I will so you need not worry about that Cecil." Contru finally pulled his eyes away from the horizon and looked at Cecil. "I promise this to you on my mother's grave."

Cecil shook his head. "You don't need to do that Contru, I know I can take you for your word without getting your mother involved in this."

Contru smiled a faint smile. "Thanks Cecil. About how much longer should it be before we get to Agart?"

"It shouldn't be too much longer now." Cecil told Contru and then patted him on his back and then turned to head back over to Cid leaving Contru thinking about this whole situation.

Rog walked into the mayor's house and saw the entire Council waiting there for him. He could feel the tension in the room and knew that this wasn't going to go well at all. The mayor's nose was set now and most likely already healing up from the injury. If there had been a White Mage in the village then it would've been taken care of right away. The mayor looked up and saw that Contru wasn't there.

"Where's Contru, Rog?" The mayor asked with a sneer across his face.

"He won't be coming." Rog replied, trying to keep calm.

"And why won't he be coming?"

"He has left the village." Rog responded while preparing for what was about to happen.

"What? What do you mean he left the village?" The mayor looked as if he was ready to explode because of this.

"The people that came into the town before returned to ask us some advice and Contru went with them in order to assist them in their endeavor." Rog said very calmly so that the mayor wouldn't get angry with him, but Rog had started to get to this from the mayor because of his nature.

The mayor looked like he was ready to throw something across the room at what had happened with this. "Rog, why did you let him leave?" The mayor looked with his stern eyes right at Rog waiting for the answer.

"I tried to stop him, but as you know he is a grown man and I was not going to physically hold him here. I have things that are more important to deal with then holding a grown man some place that he doesn't want to be." Rog tried to stay calm but could see what the mayor was trying, he was going to pin this on him.

"I can understand that Rog but you should have tried harder…but I will not hold you accountable for the actions of another grown man, as you say. When Contru returns though, you will place him under arrest and a trial will be held for him by us for the charge of treason."

Rog reached his snapping point. "Treason? What are you thinking? He is just doing what he thinks he is right! How can you charge him with treason for that?"

The mayor smiled a slight smile that most likely wasn't noticed by the others. "He has abandoned this town Rog. His loyalty is suppose to be to us first and not to some strangers that we have not met, which I am also curious about as to why we, the Village Council, was never introduced to these people. Explain that one please Rog." The mayor had calmed a little bit now that he had broken Rog down.

"They were never introduced to you because you, you as the mayor, put Contru and myself in charge of everything that was related to military type of action without having to get your consent so that is the reason why they were never introduced to you because there was no need. They came here for equipment in the first place and then quickly left. Like I said earlier they came for advice and Contru left with them." Rog could see some satisfaction on his father's face and the face of Contru's father. They had never much liked the mayor and this was a time where the mayor was being challenged by someone that could.

"Very well Rog, go back to your duties and we shall figure out the rest from here." The mayor just waved his hand letting Rog know he could leave. Rog quickly turned around and left the house.

Once outside Rog just wanted to yell out loud about what was going on. Maybe he should have gone with Contru to avoid all of this. Rog shook his head to clear his mind and then went towards the Inn to figure out what needed to be done.

Cecil could see that Agart was getting larger and larger as they got closer to it. He fingered the Magma key in his hand hoping that this was the way, they didn't have any time for anything else to happen. Cid started to set the ship down and it softly landed, much softer then the way Cecil had set the ship down when they went to Troia.

Everyone looked like they were getting ready to go off the ship but Cecil didn't want that. "I think only Contru and I should go into the town because if this does or doesn't work, I want to be moving quickly." Cecil looked around and saw that everyone was agreeing. "Contru, let's go."

Cecil led the way down the ramp that took them outside the ship with Contru following right behind. Cid had landed the ship as close to the small town as he could without doing any damage to it. Cecil had a quick pace going into town and Contru following behind.

"Cecil, what is your rush with this? If this is the way it's not like Golbez can do anything anyway with the entrance being sealed up to the Underworld."

"We don't know that for sure Contru, he could have another way of getting in if he wanted to. He would not let Kain hold the only way into the Underworld. I don't think Golbez would be that careless about this issue seeing as how it is of great importance." Coming into the town Cecil started to look around for the well. "Where is the well Contru?" Cecil continued looking around for it as Contru walked right past him.

"Better let those who know what they're doing lead Cecil." Contru said behind him as he walked towards a building in the center of town. Contru entered inside the building and Cecil was in right behind him.

Inside the building was the well. Cecil looked around wondering what was going on. "Contru, could you please explain to me why a well is inside a building?"

"The well is said to be the first well dug by the dwarves when they first came up here and it has a holy type aura to it." Contru looked right at the well with a smile as he remembered throwing things down it before.

"Why didn't you tell me about this when you told me the story?" Cecil asked Contru bringing him out of his day dream.

"I needed to make sure that I had some leverage here. I do trust you Cecil but in this day and age, it's always good to have some sort of leverage in the world."

"I can understand that then." Cecil pulled the key out of his pouch and held it in his hand. "Let's hope this works." Cecil went up to the well and dropped the key down. Cecil was listening for a bottom to the well but as he did, he never heard anything. Suddenly the earth started to shake under their feet.

"What's going on?" Cecil yelled as the earthquake got worse and worse. Cecil and Contru both fell down to the ground and as suddenly as the earthquake had started, it stopped. "Are you okay Contru?" Cecil asked as he stood up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Well I don't know but if that was coincidence with dropping that key, but I think that's a sign that it worked." Contru said with a grin. They both ran outside and saw all the towns people looking north at the mountains. Contru looked and saw there was a change in the mountains. "It worked Cecil, it worked. The mountains are different. We better get back to the airship."

Cecil nodded his head. "I agree." Cecil and Contru took off at a run towards the airship. Cid had left the ship running and it was unharmed from the earthquake. Cecil and Contru ran inside and the ship lifted up almost immediately. Cid steered the ship in the direction of the mountains and they saw what the earthquake had done. There was a giant hole where a good portion of the mountain chain had stood before and the hole appeared to have no bottom.

Contru shook his head in disbelief. "I guess the legends were true then about the Underworld."

Cecil agreed. "Yes, but we need to get going. Cid, take us down there."

"No problem there Cecil!" Cid pulled down his goggles and the ship started to descend into the hole. As they started down there was less and less light and the heat started to increase. Cecil could feel the sweat start to pour down his face and all over his body. This had to be the hottest that he had ever been in his entire life and the heat was still increasing. The tunnel was as dark as the night sky but a faint light seemed to be appearing from below them. Suddenly after having complete darkness a large light came out of nowhere and they found themselves in the Underworld.

Cecil started to look around at what was around him. There was land down here but it was outdone by the amount of magma. The magma was like a sea just like the water was on the over world. Cecil looked and saw that the Underworld was just like the over world, but inversed. Just like the crystals were. "Cid, find us a place where we can land and we'll figure things out from there."

Cid nodded his head and started the airship up, avoiding flying over the magma that was too hot. Cid saw a large field and was getting ready to set down when he saw something approaching from the port side. Cecil turned to look and saw the same thing Cid did. Everyone else started to look as well and Kain was the first to speak.

"The Redwings!" Cid started to move around trying to prepare the Enterprise for battle but noticed that they weren't heading for them, they were heading for someone else. Down on the ground on their starboard side was a group of things that were firing at the Redwings.

"They have beaten us here." Yang said as the explosions continued in front of the ship.

Cecil was still looking down at the ground, trying to figure out what was going on. "Who are they fighting?"

Cid had grown tired of just sitting there and wasn't going to stand it anymore. "I'm gonna bust through the line! Hold on!" Cid pulled some levers and the ship shot forward. Cid went right between all of the shots and the Enterprise took fire from both sides and quickly started to smoke.

"She's fallin' apart!" Cid yelled as he tried to control the ship as best he could.

"We're going down!" Cecil yelled trying to get everyone to get into a position that would keep them safe for when the ship hit the ground. As he was moving to put himself in his own safe position the ship rocked suddenly sending him head first into one of the banisters on the ship. The only thing Cecil remembered was shouts and blackness closing in.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.

Chapter 19

Cecil opened his eyes and saw that he was back in Baron castle. He sat up from his bed and looked around. Cecil rubbed his head and looked around confused at what was going on. Just as Cecil was ready to get out of bed he could hear someone calling out his name. Cecil started to look around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from because it seemed like it was coming from everywhere. Cecil kept looking around and could hear the voice getting louder and louder and louder until everything went white.

Suddenly Cecil opened his eyes and saw Rosa looking over him.

"Cecil!" Rosa yelled as she put her arms around Cecil's neck giving him a hug.

"Rosa!" Cecil yelped as she threw herself around him. After Rosa had finished her hug Cecil stood up and looked around at everyone else that was around him. "Is everyone okay?"

"Well I'm okay Cecil, but this sure isn't the best way for me to end my first trip on an airship." Contru said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, we're all fine, but my baby took a helluva beating. She might go down any minute."

"So we haven't crashed then?" Cecil asked as he felt his head to make sure he was okay and then realized Rosa must've healed him already.

"Yeah, right now we're just hovering in the air. The ship just shook around quite a bit when you hit your head."

Cecil nodded his head and saw that everyone was waiting for him to make a decision. "Let's set her down." Cid nodded and went back to controls and started to move the ship. The ship seemed to yell as it was moving because of all the damage it had taken. Cecil knew that the ship wouldn't be flying like normal soon. Cid saw something and pointed towards it. Cecil and Contru went towards the front of the ship and saw that Cid was pointing towards a castle. Cecil nodded to let Cid know to set down outside of it.

Cid pulled the ship closer to the castle and then landed the ship down a little bit away from it so that there would be no need for the people in the castle to panic. Once the ships was set down Cid turned off the engines and once he did, smoke came up from the back of the ship as the engines finally had a chance to rest. Cecil was the first one down to the door that dropped to allow them out. Cecil walked out onto the ground and the heat seemed more then what it had when they were on ship.

"Jeez man, it sure is hot out here and I thought it was bad on the ship." Contru said as he wiped some of the sweat away from his face just to feel start to reappear instantaneously. "I hope we aren't stuck down here too long or it could be trouble." Cecil noticed that Contru didn't have his bow or his arrows but still had his belt knife attached on his right side. Cecil guessed that he felt he didn't need it while they were just going to be in a castle.

"I agree there Contru. Let's get to the castle quickly and see what's going on with everything down here." Cecil looked and saw that everyone was already outside of the ship and he was setting it up so that only he could get back into it. "Are you ready to go there Cid?"

"Yeah, just hold on a second there, I've got to make sure that she is all locked up here. Alright, let's go."

Cecil started towards the castle that was will within sight. As Cecil started to look at it more he could see that there had been a battle here because places on the castle were blown off and there was plenty of craters around the castle.

"You see it too, don't you, all the damage on the castle. The battle happened recently too." Contru said as they continued to get closer.

"How do you know? There's no smoke or anything so how can you tell?" Cecil asked curiously.

"I can smell the gunpowder from the cannons as we're getting closer." Contru answered looking around trying to see anyone was around waiting to ambush them.

"How can you smell the gunpowder, I can't smell anything at all." Cecil said as he sniffed the air trying to smell the gunpowder.

"You won't be able to smell it. Rog and I were trained by someone who called himself a ranger or something. He taught all us about a lot of things like tracking as well as being able to smell certain smells better, like gunpowder from cannons. He said it's something that many people don't know because it's not really all that important, but it's good for knowing how long ago something happened if you didn't see it yourself."

"That is a pretty good skill to have I'd say. Anything else he taught you?" Cecil asked.

"Yes I did; how to sneak up on people like I did to you when you first came to Mythrila." Contru said with a half smile on his face.

"Very funny Contru. I was dealing with two old men arguing behind me that's why you were able to do that."

"Okay, just keep telling yourself that then Cecil." Contru said while trying to hold in his laughter.

Cecil just shook his head as they approached the gates to the castle. Cecil saw that the gate was still shut, but didn't see anyone nearby that could open it up. Cecil looked over to Contru wondering if he saw anyone and he shook his head no.

"Well, guess I just have to yell then." Cecil was about to open his mouth to yell out when he heard the gate start to move. Cecil moved back as the gate slowly pulled in and opened to allow a person to walk through at a time. Contru looked at Cecil and then went through the door ready to draw his sword if anything happened. Cecil quickly followed him through and saw…no one in the courtyard. Cecil motioned to Yang to have everyone come though and as soon as the last person was through the door started to shut. Kain turned around and thought to try and stop it but saw that it was automated and would just crush him.

"Well, looks like we aren't leaving that way." Kain said as he turned to everyone else. "Guess we can only go forward now."

Cecil just looked towards everyone else and saw that they all felt the same and started forward towards the doors that lead into the castle. Cecil pushed opened the doors to see that everyone was…dwarves.

Contru followed closely behind him and just shook his head. "So the legend was true after all. There are dwarves down here."

Cecil continued to look around the room and saw that no one was really doing anything to stop them or even drawing weapons against them. Cecil started to move forward when one of the dwarfs came up to him.

"You must see King now." After saying that, he turned around and continued on his business. Cecil looked at everyone and just shrugged his shoulders and kept moving forward. Cecil went through the next door into ante-chamber before the Kings throne room and saw that all the doors were sized for regular people. He then noticed that the entire castle seem to be at the height that would be for normal people to walk without having to duck down or anything. Cecil walked forward through the next set of doors and came into the King's throne room. The King was seated on a throne that was raised a few steps up so that he had to be looked up to from where anyone else on the ground would see him. The King was wearing a crown that seemed quite modest and Cecil thought that it might even be made from harden magma since that would show some power by him. He also wore very simple clothing. Cecil couldn't tell what the material was but it seemed very simple sort of like a woolen type, but much lighter and not so thick. The garment, whatever it was, was purple in color and just appeared to be a robe that covered up a lightly covered shirt and a pair of simple slacks. Looking at the guards around him it appeared that their dress was very simple as the armor was just a simple breast plate with minimal leg covering. They all carried axes as their primary weapon and wore a helmet that covered all of the head with bars going across their faces to protect those. Cecil then put his attention back onto the King to not be rude.

The King saw him and looked down towards him but rose off his throne. "Rally-ho. I King Giott, rule of the underworld."

Cecil did a low bow that he was taught by Baron to show respect and then came back up fully. "Thank you for welcoming us. My name is Cecil." Cecil waited for the King to reply.

"State your business," is the entire thing the King said as he sat.

"We've come in search of the Dark Crystals." Cecil said bluntly not waiting to waste any time.

"Like the others, but not on the same side." Giott said as he nodded.

Kain did not want to sit here and wait for this King to approve them. He stepped forward and began to speak. "Where are the Dark Crystals? Have they been taken?"

"They took two. Only the other two remain." Giott said getting to the point himself.

"One step too late." Yang said as the whole group started to look disappointed.

"Our castle's Crystal is still safe. Our tanks fought them off." Giott said to the group to inform them of at least where one of them was.

"Yes, we saw your…tanks…fighting against the airships on our way here." Rosa said as she tried to calm the mood down from the men being so forward.

"So, those things are called tanks…what an interesting name for them. They have to be very powerful for them to with stand the Red Wings." Contru said as he thought the tanks.

"Air-ships? The overworld makes incredible things…Hard battle for our tanks. Can you help us with your air-ships?"

"We need to repair her first. The bombardment really busted her good." Cid said as he scratched his head.

"We can help fix." Giott said implying that he wanted to get the airship back into combat to help his tanks.

"Ahh, she won't last in the heat of all this magma anyways. For now I'm gonna make temporary fixes then fly back to the surface and gather me some mythril to armor her better and so she can handle the heat much better."

Cid turned to start going but Contru stopped him before he got too far. "Cid, go to Mythrila and explain the situation to Rog. He should be able to get you mythril easily and in plate form that would be easy to form into the ship for the armor."

"Thanks, that'll make it easier then." Cid turned around again to start to leave.

"Cid!" Cecil yelled trying to tell him something else but was stopped before he could say anything.

"Just button up and relax. I'll be back in a jiffy." Cid said with a smile across his face.

"Be careful Cid." Rosa added in making Cid laugh.

"You're not fallin' for me are you Rosa?" Cid gave a huge grin and pulled his goggles back down and left the room and could be heard yelling at some the dwarves to follow him.

Cecil turned back to the King and started to ask more questions. "King Giott, the crystal in the castle, where is it?"

Giott gave a small smile and leaned back in his chair. "In the safest place…hidden behind my throne."

Cecil seemed to have a sigh of relief when he heard that but Yang all of a sudden jumped forward and started to look around the room. "I sense something."

Cecil turned and looked towards Yang with a questioningly look on his face. "Yang?"

"Someone is spying on us." Yang continued to scan the room as everyone else did as well and Contru even had his hand on his sword ready to draw it.

Giott looked around the room and rose. "Come out!" He yelled once he was standing. No one came out and no one could see anyone that was in the room.

Cecil started to calm down and looked back towards Yang. "Perhaps it was your imagination."

Yang was looking directly ahead, right at the King or more like through him. "I definitely sense a presence ahead."

King Giott turned around and looked right past his throne. He turned quickly to a guard to the left of him and threw his hands up in the air. "Open the door!"

"Rally!" The guard then ran towards the wall and pull on one of the candelabras and a door opened to the side of Giott's throne. Cecil rushed through with everyone close behind him. The room looked exactly like the Crystal Rooms on the surface. It was completely made of glass that reflected everything that was on it. The Crystal was sitting on a raised platform that was only accessible by a single set of stairs that was wide enough for only one person. Kain was the last to enter and as soon as he was in the lock shut behind him. Kain tried to pull it open and it didn't work at all.

"It's locked!" Cecil drew his sword out along with Contru as they looked around the room and didn't see anyone that Yang could've sensed.

"Yip-ho-ho!" A voice said from in front of them but the only thing in the room was a bunch of dolls. Cecil looked at them very confused and just sat there for a second and didn't know what to do.

"Dolls?" Rosa said aloud while lowering her bow and un-nocking her arrow. The six dolls all of sudden looked right up to the group and started to dance. They each spun around and then slowly, one by one, started to line up and then all faced everyone and started to speak in unison.

"Guess who? Calbrinas! We're cute! And we're scary! Love to kill! Let's take their heads! Yeah-yeah! Gift for Golbez! Yip-ho-ho!" Suddenly the dolls lunged forward towards everyone. The lead doll dove right for Cecil but stopped short and fell to the ground with an arrow stuck right in its head. The group then backed off and the remaining five dolls each seemed to pick a person to line up with. Cecil stayed close to Rosa though because he knew that she couldn't fight well hand to hand but was good with a bow.

The Calbrinas just stood there looking at them, not making a move. Rosa had nocked another arrow and pulled it back, letting it fly. The Calbrina that she had aimed for moved out of the way of the arrow and then dove towards Rosa. Cecil saw it coming in and was able to slash the doll in half. Cecil then turned to face back towards the other dolls and saw that three of them were coming towards him. Cecil put himself in a battle stance ready to try and fight off all three.

Cecil was ready to strike out towards the first one when it dropped to the ground with a knife sticking out of its head. Cecil, having been thrown off a little bit by that, had to side step out of the way of the second Calbrina and then smacked the other doll across its face with the back of his hand. As Cecil turned to go after the first one that attacked him he saw that Kain was pulling his spear out of it and it had a large hole in its midsection.

Cecil turned back towards the center and saw the other two still standing there and they hadn't moved on bit. The two dolls turned and looked at each other and nodded their heads and then turned away from each other.

"Form up!" they said in unison as they started to glow. Cecil looked and saw that all the other dolls had started to glow as well and were being drawn closer to the other two dolls. As the dolls got closer together, the glow got brighter until it was so bright, Cecil had to turn away from it. Once the light had gone away and Cecil looked back to where the dolls had been, he just saw one giant doll standing there. The doll was twice as tall as anyone in the room with Cecil being only as tall as one of the dolls legs. Cecil also realized the doll's leg was about as big as he was.

"Well, this isn't very good at all now is it?" Contru said as he picked up his knife and everyone came together in front of the doll.

"I would agree with you there Contru." Kain said as he held his spear ready to attack.

"Yang, Contru. You two attack it from the sides while Kain and I keep it busy from the front. Rosa you back us up from afar with your arrows" Cecil turned and looked at Rosa and saw that she nodded backing up a few steps. Contru and Yang both swept to opposite sides and Cecil and Kain prepared to distract the giant Calbrina. Cecil rushed in with Kain right behind him and as Cecil was about to attack he dodged to his left leaving Kain a wide open target as the Calbrina was focused on Cecil. Kain stabbed the doll right its leg causing it to turn in his direction.

Contru, who the doll now had its back to, rushed in and jumped up, trying to get his sword as high as possible on the doll. Contru was able to get into the lower back and as he descended, left a large cut in the doll. The doll then turned towards him, but very slowly because of the injuries and tried to hit Contru away. Yang then jumped up and landed on the dolls head. The doll tried to shake him loose, but Yang held on well. Yang then drove his fist right into the forehead of the doll, causing it to start teetering around. Yang jumped off and landed safely out of the way as the doll came crashing down. As the doll hit the ground, it spilt back into the six separate dolls, but only one was moving. The one doll stood up and looked right at Cecil.

"Owww! Big bully! But Golbez now knows! He's gonna getcha-getcha! Golbez!" Then the doll collapsed and did not show any signs of life anymore. Cecil lowered his sword and started to look around the room, cautious about the last words of the doll.

"Our paths cross again…" A voice said from everywhere, but no where. Cecil shot his head straight up in front of him and knew who it was as Golbez appeared in front of him, between him and the Crystal.

"Golbez."

Golbez gave a slight nod towards Cecil and the rest of the group. "I commend you on finding your way to the underworld." Golbez gave a little smirk as he said that know full well how he had be able to do it. "To reward you efforts, I shall tell you why I am collecting all the Crystals." A sinister smile crept across his face as he began to tell why.

"The eight crystals of light and dark are the keys to reactivating the Tower of Babil which leads to the moon. Legends say the moon posses power beyond our comprehension. I only need one more crystal to realize my dream. You have been of great aid to my quest. Now prepare for your final reward!"

Cecil raised his sword as Golbez began to shout and was able to dive out of the way of a fireball that he had sent after he finished speaking. As Cecil got up and looked at Golbez, he saw an arrow flying towards him but all Golbez had to do was raise his hand and the arrow stopped in mid air and fell to the ground. Yang, Contru, and Kain went rushing it to try and attack Golbez but he was able to move around like a ghost to avoid all of their attacks Golbez then sent a shockwave out from where he was standing that knocked them all down. Cecil, seeing his only chance went rushing in while Golbez had his back turned and slashed horizontally towards Golbez. Golbez didn't even appear to move and Cecil was sure he had hit him, but Golbez just turned around and fired a small ball of fire at Cecil, knocking him backwards about ten feet.

Golbez just started to laugh as everyone was on the ground and starting to get up. "So this you power? Now experience the power I have!" Golbez started to chant and then flung his hands outward and sent streaks of energy from his hands.

When the energy hit everyone as they were getting up, they were all suddenly knocked down and could not move. Cecil kept trying to move and was trying so hard that he could feel his muscles start to scream in pain and he had to close his eyes as he continued to try.

"Open your eyes and know true terror. Shadow, come forth!" Just as Golbez said, a giant dark dragon appeared next to him. The dragon walked forward and first went for Rosa. Shadow raised his claw and smack Rosa across her face, knocking across the floor and her head hit the wall and her eyes shut as blood started to come from the back of her head. He then hit Contru with his tail sending him across the room knocking him into the opposite wall. As Contru slid down it was easy to see that his neck was broken. The dragon then walked towards Yang and hit him into the air with his head and allowed him to fall to the ground. Cecil could hear Yang grunt and try to stay awake, but he too fell unconscious. Then Shadow went over to Kain and swiped his claw at him, sending him into the pillar where the crystal was and Cecil could hear Kain's back break as he hit the pillar and when he landed on the ground showed no sign of life. He then turned to his last target…Cecil.

"Farewell Cecil…" Golbez said as he turned to get the crystal. Cecil shut his eyes, waiting for the blow that would end it all. They had come so far and it was going to end like this. Cecil opened his eyes again, deciding to meet his end and not be afraid. Just as Cecil was about to expect the blow to come, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye: a Mist Dragon. The dragon dove forward and dung its fangs deep into the neck of Shadow and bit its head clean off. Just as quickly as the Mist Dragon had appeared, it vanished.

Golbez turned around hearing Shadow getting attacked and could see the mist that still remained from the dragon vanishing. "Shadow…destroyed by mist."

Cecil then could feel that he could move again and heard a voice. "Ya'okay? Try getting up." Cecil slowly stood and could feel his muscles still in pain but he had to get up and fight Golbez. He had to make him pay for everything he had done but that voice, he could recognize it from somewhere.

"That voice…" Cecil turned around and saw a teenage girl wearing a green robe with bright green hair. It was Rydia that had saved him. She looked older then when he had last seen her, but he could see the smile that he knew and her green eyes that had the shine of the little girl that he had rescued back in Mist.

"Impossible!" Golbez yelled as he started back towards them to finish Cecil off himself and then take care of Rydia afterwards. Rydia had been prepared and she threw a large fireball at Golbez sending him backwards a few feet. Cecil, still amazed watched as Rydia threw another fireball at Golbez and then another. Golbez was under complete assault by her and he couldn't do a thing. Cecil then realized that she was buying him time to get in there and attack him. Cecil rushed in and just as he got to where Golbez was holding off Rydia's attack, she stopped firing the fireball and when Golbez came out from his defensive stance; Cecil put his sword right into Golbez's midsection.

"This is for all that you have hurt Golbez." Cecil said as he sliced the sword outward almost cutting Golbez in half. The wizard just looked down at his gut and fell to his knees and then passed out and hit the ground.

Cecil went down to one knee himself right next to Golbez's body but quickly got back up and turned to Rydia. "We did it…we've defeated Golbez!" Cecil could feel the joy going through him that he almost forgot about what had happened to everyone else. "Rosa!" Just as Cecil remembered, he dropped his sword and went rushing to where Rosa had fallen and kneeled down next to her and put her head in his lap. The blood was a giant pool under where her had had lain and now it was still coming out and running down Cecil's armor as her head rested in his lap. "Please…if any strength for healing remains…please let me be able to use it please…" Cecil then started to focus as he tried to bring Rosa back to him. Cecil had his eyes closed and started to feel some his magic pass into Rosa. Cecil could almost feel the gash on her head and could feel as he started to close it up. Slowly Cecil worked towards closing the wound but about a quarter of the way through healing it, it just wouldn't heal any more. Cecil opened his eyes and felt the wound and didn't understand. He could still feel some of his white magic flowing into Rosa, but nothing was happening. Was the wound too serious for him? Was he too weak from the fight to be able to do anything about it? Cecil looked right down at Rosa's face and saw the beauty that she had. She looked like she was sound asleep as she lay there. _"I'm not going to let you go __Rosa__…I won't"_ Cecil then leaned in and kissed Rosa because he didn't know of anything else to do. As he was kissing her, he could feel her white magic merge with his and the wound started heal very rapidly. Cecil pulled his lips away from Rosa's and when he looked back down at her, saw that her eyes were open and that she was looking right back at him.

"Cecil…I knew you wouldn't let me go." Rosa smiled a bit and then tried to sit up, but Cecil wouldn't let her.

"No, you cant possibly move yet after what just happened." Cecil said as he laid Rosa back down into his lap.

"Cecil! The others aren't breathing!" Rydia yelled from where Kain was. Cecil turned and saw looked at Rydia as he had forgotten about the rest of them. Rosa started to sit back up, but when Cecil tried to stop her again she just looked right at him.

"Cecil I need to go to them. You can't be strong enough to do what you did again." Rosa sat up and looked at the other three that were lying down and did a quick check from where she was and stood up and went right to Contru. "Cecil, go check on Yang while I take care of Contru." Cecil nodded his head and sprang right up and dashed towards Yang. Cecil turned Yang over onto his back and saw that he was still breathing. Cecil laid his hands on Yang's chest and started to flow some healing magic into him. Cecil could feel the broken bones being fixed and the internal bleeding was stopping. As soon as it was complete Yang's eyes opened and he sprang up and was looking around.

"Yang its okay, Golbez is dead." Cecil said as he calmed Yang down. Yang looked towards where Golbez body was and nodded. Cecil left him and went to where Kain was with Rydia still over him.

"Are you sure he's not breathing Rydia?" Cecil asked as he kneeled down next to Kain.

"I don't think he is, but it's hard to tell with all the armor he has on." Rydia said as she tried to look to see if he really was breathing. Cecil placed his hand on Kain's chest and sent a small flow of white magic into him. He was still breathing but had many broken bones in his body. Cecil started to send some healing flows into Kain but knew that he wouldn't be able to do it alone; there was just too much damage. Suddenly, as Cecil was concentrating Rosa kneeled down on the opposite side of Kain and started to flow her own white magic into him.

Cecil could feel with Rosa putting her magic into Kain that everything was healing and Cecil just backed off and left his magic inside of there to make sure that Rosa didn't miss anything. Rosa kept her flows strong but focused so that everything that she did was doing some sort of good. Cecil started to check over the damage that she had already fixed and saw there was nothing wrong with it and then realized that she had finished and that Kain was awake.

"Is everything good Cecil?" Rosa asked as she leaned back a little bit. Cecil finished looked around and stopped his flows and nodded yes. "Good because if you had not got to him when you did he might've been even past my abilities. I don't know how you managed to break all those bones with that armor on Kain but you found some way." Rosa said trying to make light of the situation.

Kain sat up and winced in pain a little bit. "I take it that I'll be a little stiff for a bit after having my entire back reset?" Kain asked and he stood up and started to walk around.

"It shouldn't be too long at all, just a side effect from the body being healed. Healing just isn't the power of the person doing the healing, it also takes a little bit out of the person being healed so that's why you're stiff." Rosa went to stand up but as she did started to fall back down. Cecil was right next to her to make sure that she didn't fall down.

"Take it easy Rosa. You've done a lot after just getting healed yourself." Cecil looked over and saw Contru leaning against the wall that he had hit and Cecil, making sure Rosa could stand on her own, went over to him.

"Contru, are you okay?" Cecil asked trying to get a good look at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Cecil. It's just that I'm really sore and really tired. I'm pretty sure I was gone and Rosa pulled me back from death and after listening to her explanation I'm sure I have no energy left." Contru looked up at Cecil and then over towards Golbez's body. "So how did he get killed then?"

"Well that is easy to explain-" Cecil was about to explain what happened when Rosa spoke up.

"Rydia!" Rosa went over the her and gave her a hug and looked closely at her face, in shock at her appearance.

Cecil came up with Contru and Kain and Yang also came closer to her as well. "Rydia what happened to you?" Cecil asked her.

Rydia smiled and pushed her green hair out of her face. "Leviathan took me to the Land of Summons, a world where all the summoned monsters live. We became friends during my stay. I learned a lot there but I can't use white magic anymore that's why I wasn't able to help when everyone was injured, but I've grown stronger as a summoner." Rydia smiled and looked herself and back up to everyone. "Time flows differently there, so maybe I've aged faster."

Rosa looked at Rydia and nodded. "That explains why you look so grown up." Rosa had a smile across her face as she was looking there at Rydia.

Kain leaned closer to Cecil sort of confused. "Cecil, who is she?"

"The girl we found in Mist." Cecil replied.

"Fortune favors us indeed." Yang said loudly as he went up and gave Rydia a massive hug in thanks for saving them from Golbez.

Cecil approached Rydia and gave her a hug as well. "Rydia, we owe you our lives. Thank you." He said as he pulled away from the hug.

Rydia shook her head. "You don't have to thank me. The queen of the Land of Summons told me: 'A great force is secretly at work. We must confront it together.'" Rydia was about to say something else when they heard a voice.

"I…cannot perish!" Golbez said as he was standing right next to the crystal. His wound was bleeding badly but was still walking. Contru drew his sword and charged up the steps as quick as he could but before he could get there, Golbez grabbed the crystal and vanished.

"The crystal!" Cecil shouted out as Golbez disappeared. Cecil couldn't believe that Golbez had been able to walk after taking that injury, he almost seemed like the mind was forcing the body to do what it did. Cecil didn't know what had happened but he had no choice but to let King Giott know what had happened with the crystal.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Cecil turned and looked to everyone making sure Golbez hadn't done something right before he left. Everyone seemed to be fine, but Contru looked angry as he was coming down the steps while putting his sword in its scabbard.

"How in the hell was he alive after that wound? There is no way any human could have walked after that. Blood was pouring out of him like a waterfall!"

"I don't know myself Contru but it's done. There is nothing that we can do about it now. We had better get back to the throne room and let Giott know about this."

Contru nodded in agreement as Cecil led the way to where the door was back to the throne room. The door opened easily now that the evil force was gone and as Cecil walked into the room he could see everyone waiting to see what had happened in there. There were a lot of soldiers waiting around the door as the group came out. They all lowered their weapons as Cecil and his friends exited the room. Cecil went in front of Giott in order to tell him what happened. Everyone gathered in a group behind Cecil waiting for what would happen. Cecil gave a slight bow and began to speak.

"Forgive me-Golbez has the crystal."

"One crystal left…we must protect." Giott said in return to Cecil's comment.

Rosa stepped forward and placed her hand on Cecil's back. "Yes. Where can we find it?"

"In the Sealed Cave in the southwest, where Golbez is now heading. Worry not, he cannot enter without the key. I have a request."

"Anything, after all, we lost your crystal to Golbez." Cecil answered for everyone.

Giott nodded with a smile on his face. "Request you retrieve the seven crystals at the Tower of Babil."

Yang nodded and closed his eyes in thought. "I presume it will be fortified…"

"By Golbez's forces." Kain finished Yang's sentence. "It won't be easy."

Giott nodded and stood up and raised his arms into the air. "My plan: Our tanks will distract them. You sneak in. You seize crystals. Now or never, before Golbez returns from Sealed Cave."

Cecil nodded and turned to everyone in the group before deciding on what to do.

"What do you think?" Kain said before any one else could say anything.

A large force will be waiting." Rydia said.

"It's a risk." Rosa pointed out to everyone.

"As they say 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.'" Yang added.

"Like Giott said, now might be our only chance." Kain said to add another argument.

Contru, who had remained quiet, finally raised his opinion. "We have no choice in this matter. Giott said that Golbez won't be able to get into the Sealed Cave but he is stubborn, he'll be there for a while trying to get in. Right now he's weak and maybe his forces are a bit unorganized. We have to take this chance and get those other crystals back."

"Alright." Cecil then turned back to Giott to give the response. "We'll go to the tower to retake the crystals."

Giott, who had sat back down, jumped out from his chair with excitement. "Excellent! Exit is at the bottom of the castle whenever you are ready. Good luck."

"Your Majesty, I was wondering if there was a place that we could rest to recover from our wounds from the battle with Golbez?" Cecil asked, concerned for all or those that had suffered large injuries during the battle."

"No need to worry. Down near the exit is a location that has water from a magical spring that will completely recover you." Giott said as he sat back down and gathered his generals around to start planning everything. Cecil bowed and then left Giott be.

Golbez was holding his side as he was being healed by one of the white wizards he had captured before. He still was shocked at the power of the Summoner. Her power was even greater then Tellah had when he died.

"And she only a child herself still. She will become a huge issue as time goes on." Golbez felt that the bleeding had stopped. He looked down and saw that the wound was healed. He turned and left the wizard knelling there as he got up to get a new chest plate. Cecil had put his sword right through his armor when he had charged at him. Cecil's strength was growing everyday as well and now there was that boy from Mythrila. He had been able to take care of him without too big an issue, but when the Mythrila boy had charged at him as he was getting the crystal; he could tell that he had a fire in his eyes to get him. Golbez looked at himself in the mirror. His black hair was covered in sweat from the intense fight that he had been a part of and also matted with some blood when he hit his head against the ground when he had passed out. Pushing the hair away revealed a face that looked much older then it really was. There were small cuts all over his face and one long one that went across his forehead that had healed into a dark scar. He could remember when he received the cut, trying to out do the master at Mysidia and being put in his place with a fire spell that had cut his head wide open. Golbez had never returned there ever again but he kept his power growing and now he could easily take the master at Mysidia, especially sense he was old now and had lost much of his power. That Palom boy was out of the way as well leaving him an open road to Mysidia if he needed to go there for anything. The only worry now was that caller girl. If she could master all the black magic that he had, he was not sure he could stop her one on one. Just as he was thinking that a knock came at the door. "Enter." Golbez said as he grabbed his chest plate and began putting it on.

An imp walked into the door and kept his eyes low because Golebz's helmet was off. "Master, we are nearing the location of the last crystal."

"Good now leave me be! I will be out there shortly." The imp bowed and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Golbez then reached for his helmet and place it on is head. The armor all together made it seem he was a monster and not a man at all, just the way he wanted it to be. Golbez attached his cape to the chest plate and then left the room to see what the Sealed Cave would hold for him. "Soon all the crystals will be mine and the moon shall be open to me and then no one will be able to stop me."

Rog threw the papers on the floor as the soldier brought them to him.

"Is there something the matter Commander?" He asked trying to see if he was mad at him.

"Have you heard about the Council's decision on Contru?"

"Yes sir. Everyone has and no one likes it."

"Well that's a relief that the soldiers don't like it at all. Do me a favor and spread the word that no one is to make mention about the discontent of us against the Council, understand? I don't want the word going around that we don't follow them anymore because that could cause unneeded panic. Make it seem that everything is normal and when Contru reappears, try to make sure the Council doesn't see him or find him. I know this is going against orders but I'm not going to arrest my best friend and put our greatest leader in jail."

"Understood sir." The soldier saluted and left. Just as he left another one entered.

"Sir, Cecil's airship has landed and there is an old man named Cid demanding to see you."

Rog shot his eyes up. "Let him in immediately. Does the Council know that he's here?"

"No sir, he asked to see you, not the Council." The solider smiled and turned to get Cid. As Rog got up, Cid stormed through the door and almost knocked Rog over.

"Cid, where is Contru?" Rog asked as he shut the door.

"He's in the Underworld." Cid answered.

"The Underworld! So I guess it's real then." Rog said.

"Yea it's really alright. Now I need you to get me some mythril so the airship doesn't burn away while we're down there and I need it as soon as possible."

"Well I can get it for you right now, but on one condition." Rog said as he leaned back against the door.

"What's the condition?"

"Take me with you. This place is going nowhere and Contru was right about making a difference."

"Fine, take me to the mythril right now then." Cid said as he started to walk towards Rog. Rog opened the door and quickly went down the stairs of the Inn and out the back door. Rog went around the corner of the Inn and stopped right in front of a huge cart filled with mythril sheets.

"Should this be enough?" Rog asked as Cid came around the corner.

"That'll be more then enough! How is it already in sheets?"

"We were going to use it to fortify the walls but Golbez won't be returning so it doesn't matter one bit. Where's the airship?"

"It's out front of the town."

"Let's go then." Rog started to push the cart right through the middle of the town. Some of the soldiers could see what he was doing and didn't say a word. They knew that he was leaving. As Rog exited the gates and Cid opened up a ramp to get the cart into the airship a soldier came running out holding some of Rog's things.

"Hey Commander, you'll be needed these while you're out there." The soldier had brought Rog's bow, a quiver of arrows, and his knife.

"Thank you. You'll be fine while I'm gone. If the Council comes looking for me just tell them the truth. I'll accept the consequences when I return." The soldier nodded his head and left as the ramp started to close up and the airship lifted off the ground. Rog tried to head for the deck right away but got lost before he could figure out his way up and met Cid on the deck. "Where are we going?"

"Baron. I need to get the mythril on the ship before we can return to the underworld and my men should still be there to help me get the mythril on." Cid put the ship up to full speed and headed straight for Baron.

Cecil exited the throne room and found everyone waiting outside for him.

"So can we rest or does he expect us to leave right away?" Contru asked while playing around with his knife in his hands.

"Giott said that there was a place where they have water from a magical spring that will completely rejuvenate us for the trek ahead. He did say we could leave when we were ready so we do have some time to relax before heading out."

"Good. In that case I'm going to see if I can find some place to wash myself down a bit and try and cool down from all this heat. We had better bring lots of water with us for this trip because we are not used to heat like this so we could die just from not drinking enough water." Contru said as he undid one of the straps on his chest plate to try and cool off a bit.

"That is true. Contru, make sure before we leave that you have two pouches of water for each of us. I'm sure there won't be any issue finding it. You more then likely could just ask anyone around you where you could it." Cecil replied to Contru. "For the rest of you just relax and we'll meet up here in twenty minutes to leave." Everyone agreed with Cecil to do that and each went there separate ways. Rosa came up to Cecil as everyone was going away and looked right into Cecil's eyes, causing him to forget everything for a second. Cecil pulled himself away from her beautiful gaze to look up and saw Kain staring at them with a longing look on his face. Kain realized that Cecil was looking and quickly turned to go.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rosa asked, bringing him back to her.

"Let's go somewhere more private to talk about this. You never know who might be listening." Cecil said as he led Rosa by the hand away from the anteroom.

Contru had been the first to leave the anteroom after being told be Cecil to find the water. He didn't mind getting assigned to do something like that because it was such a simple task to do; all he had to do was find water.

"I sure hope these dwarves drink water or we'll be in trouble." Just thinking about drinking water made his mouth dry and wished that his pouch at his side was filled up with some. He felt entirely way too weak at the moment and thought that he could pass out at any moment. He had heard that healing could take quite a lot out of the person but he didn't think it would do this much to him. Contru found a set of stairs and went down them thinking that he might find further down in the castle. When he got downstairs he looked around and just saw a bunch of columns all around supporting the weight of the castle and then saw something in the corner of his eye. He walked towards it and saw that it was a large tub that was filled with water. He looked down at the bottom and saw a small hole, but the water wasn't draining out. Taking off his gualent and glove on his right hand, Contru reached into the water. As his hand hit the water, he did not expect it to be so cold as it was. It was almost colder then water on the surface. Contru got to where the hole was and could feel a force pushing out from it. The water was coming from the hole into the tub. Contru pulled his hand out and could start to feel some of the water evaporate on his skin because of the intense heat they were in. Contru took his pouch off his belt and placed it in the water to fill it up. Just as his was getting filled up, he realized that he didn't have any other pounches to fill water into. Contru looked around to see if there was any around him but he didn't spot any.

Just as he was giving up all hope of finding more pouches to fill water into a dwarf emerged from a nearby door and started to walk across the room.

"Excuse me." Contru yelled out trying to get the dwarf's attention.

"Rally ho! You must be one person that fought Golbez in Crystal Room." The dwarf said as a smile went across his face.

"Yes I am. Could tell me if there are anymore pouches for water around here?"

"Yes." The dwarf turned around and went towards another door and when it opened he came out with a large tub filled with them.

"Thank you very much." Contru said as he turned and went on his way. Contru started to throw in three pouches in at a time to fill the water up as fast as possible. Contru leaned against the tub as another group was filling up about his whole trip down here. He had come down here hoping to make a difference but he had only gotten himself killed in the process. Thankfully Rosa and Cecil were there to bring him back. He didn't want to think about that anymore, he never liked thinking about death. Contru pulled the group of pouches that was in there out and put in another group to finish out getting the water so he could meet up with everyone.

Cecil found a door that lead outside on to the castle wall that lead to one of the towers on either side of the castle. When he had stepped outside he could feel an increase in the heat. Cecil didn't rush, but he didn't walk slowly either as he went to one of the towers while Rosa kept up right next to him. Once they were inside the tower they could feel the cooler air around them and went off into a corner to talk.

"So what's with all this privacy, Cecil? What's wrong?" Rosa asked trying to read Cecil's face.

"It has to do with Kain. Ever since I rescued you and then Kain was freed of the spell…It's hard to trust him."

"What brought this on all of a sudden Cecil? You and I were the ones that we able to get Kain to come along with us since the Tower of Zot. Why are you worried all of a sudden?"

"When you came up to me in the anteroom and got close to me, I saw Kain staring at us with this longing look on his face. He wants to be in my shoes right now."

Rosa turned her eyes away from Cecil and looked down towards the ground. "Cecil, you know that Kain does love me…but I don't love him." She looked right back up into Cecil's eyes and some tears started to form in them. "The only person I love is you."

"I know that Rosa, this doesn't reflect onto you at all. I'm just worried about Kain. I just hope that this doesn't affect him in a way that might make him turn away from us or worse."

"Cecil, I'm sure that he wouldn't do that. He doesn't seem to trust himself and that's understandable. But we need to help him as his friends, not worrying about weather or not it'll happen again." Rosa said with the tears cleared away from her eyes.

Cecil looked deep into her eyes and realized that she was right. "You're right Rosa. This is just another reason why I need you. You can get me to think straight and put fears out of my mind." Rosa only responded by smiling and slightly blushing. Cecil lowered his head and kissed her slightly on her lips and as he raised his head back whispered "I love you."

"We had better get back to where we are supposed to meet everyone. I wouldn't want to be late as the leader." Cecil smiled as he looked at Rosa he smiled in return and started to head for the door.

Contru was coming back up the stairs after filling up the water, having a hard time pulling the tub that he had put them into when he used the pouches that were in it before. When he finally got it up the stairs he was able to just pick the tub up and carry it in his hands, all though that was also a chore because of all the armor that he was wearing was making him more blocky then he normally would be. He found his way into the anteroom and saw Rosa and Cecil standing there, waiting for him. When Cecil saw him approaching he went to him and grabbed one side of the tub to help Contru pull it all in.

"I see you were able to find the water easily then?" Cecil joked with Contru as they placed it down in nearby where Rosa was standing.

"Yeah, just had to ask a dwarf about it." Contru joked back to Cecil. Contru found it how after that one battle that they had fought together that they now felt like closer friends then he had felt with anyone besides Rog his entire life. As Contru was about to say something, Rydia walked into the room and took his mind away from anything he had been ready to say. He had seen a woman be more beautiful then Rydia was, he had heard about how she was really only like seven or eight years old, but she had the body of adult and knew that she had basically grown up while being in the Land of Summons with all the monsters down there. He also knew that it was because of her that they were all alive because if she had not been there then they would all be dead on the floor of the crystal room.

"Are we all set to go?" Rydia asked as she saw the water was ready and there was the few of them around.

"Yes we are, it should only be a few more minutes until Kain and Yang return and once they do we shall head off to the Tower of Babil and try to retrieve all the other crystals." As Cecil was finishing his sentence Kain and Yang were walking into the room.

Yang looked around at everyone and then turned to Cecil to speak. "Now that everyone is here, I think it's time that we go. We cannot waste too much time here while Golbez is at the Sealed Cave trying to get the last crystal."

Cecil nodded in agreement. "I agree, now everyone grab two water pouches and then follow me down into the basement for the exit that we need to take to get onto the path to the tower." Cecil grabbed his two pouches and turned and started to lead the way for everyone to follow him. Contru was the last to grab his water and pushed the tub off to the side so that no one would trip over it and hurt themselves. As he was walking he saw that Rydia was the last of the group and came up along side of her.

"So I hear that you come from the town of Mythrila?" Rydia asked him as a small smile went across her face.

"Yes, that's true. I was a merchant until only a little while ago when all the trouble started to happen and then I became the leader for the defense of the town."

"So why are you here then? Shouldn't you still be in Mythrila to defend it?"

Contru shook his head. "There is no need to be there anymore, Golbez came and collected mythril from us and took all he needed. He won't need to return so there is no point in me defending a town where I can't do anything to help the with taking down Golbez instead of protecting a town that has no worth to him."

Rydia looked through her green hair over towards Contru trying to figure this man out. "If Golbez does take over, then every town will have to deal with him and no one will be free from the suffering that he could cause so Mythrila is still in danger."

"I understand that, that's it why I'm here. Right now I can make much more of a difference here with the rest of you then sitting back at Mythrila defending that town. Just like the Queen of Summons told you, we have to confront this evil together and that's what I plan on doing."

Rydia laughed quietly under her breath as they kept on walking down the stairs towards the exit. "That is true, you seem to be a man who has his head squarely on his shoulders, unlike some that I have met before…but that was a different life…" She said as she trailed off.

"You mean before Leviathan swallowed you up, correct?"

"Yes…before that. I have no reason to be angry about it, Leviathan did it for my own good, he knew that if I wasn't stronger then I would just be a burden to Cecil, now I can hold my own and even help out, just like I did with Golbez."

"Yes, I do have to thank you for that. Without you, we would never have been able to beat back Golbez like we did, even though he did get the crystal." Contru kept himself from looking at the floor and instead looked up and around him at the way the castle was built. He had never been one huge on architecture, but he did know when something was built well and would not fall apart without much issue. The columns that the dwarves had used were fat and short making the ceiling only about two feet taller then most of the people from the overworld. That was not a huge issue for the people that normally were down here because they were all so much shorter then Contru and the rest.

Rydia noticed that he didn't really want to talk about Golbez getting the crystal, so she decided to change the subject. "So if you're a merchant, they how come you know how to use a sword so well?"

"Well when you are out on the sea you have to worry about monsters and pirates, so you always have to be prepared for anything." Contru turned to look back at her and into her green eyes. They were beautiful eyes, but he knew that he would never let anyone get close enough in order for it to hurt him like he had been in the past. "So do you miss…your childhood?"

Rydia laughed at the question and as she did her hair whipped back showing off her long slender neck and how perfectly her face fit her. "No I don't because I still experienced it. Like I said before, in the Land of Summons, time works differently and so I still grew normally, I just appear to have changed drastically because so little time out here has past. When I first met Cecil I was seven years old, now I'm eighteen and I have not missed a birthday, just spent it with some different friends instead of up here with everyone else…well, it would have been with just Cecil because he was the only person that I knew after what happened to the town of Mist."

"Oh yeah, I remember Cecil explaining that me to." Contru slapped his hand against his forehead after forgetting about that whole incident. "I'm sorry that I had to bring it up. You must be a very strong woman in order to deal with all the things that you have dealt with and still be this happy with life. I know all that you have been through, especially at your age; I would not be able to deal with it as easily." As Contru went to look back at Rydia he saw that she was beat red; Contru didn't have to guess that she was being embarrassed by him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you like that…"

"No, it's okay…I've just never had anyone say anything like to me…I'm the one who should be sorry, I'm just not used to being around other people after spending so much time in the Land of Summons."

Contru laughed a little, even if it wasn't meant to be a joke. "Don't worry, just think of me as one of those monsters because I'm not the best example of how people act." He said to her with a smile across his face.

That comment did not help matters any because all it did was make her face go brighter and her look away and try to hide from him and everyone else so no one else would notice.

Rydia was still trying to calm down after the conversation that she had with Contru. She could feel that her face was still red. She was thankful for her long hair now as she could use it to hide her face from Contru who was trying not to look at her now because he knew that he had embarrassed her. She had never had this happen to her before; she had never felt this away about someone. It seemed like every time he gave her a compliment that her stomach would turn in knots and she could not think of things to say. She would have to talk to Rosa about this sometime when the situation would permit it because right now would not work well.

Rydia just hoped though that during this trip to the Tower of Babil that she would be able to keep control of herself with Contru being nearby. She thought she could do it because when she had been in the Land of Summons she had to do some things that were under pressure and she had been able to handle herself so she was not o concerned…but this was different.

Rydia looked back over at Contru to see if he was still looking at her and when their eyes met, she turned red again and continued to hide her face.

"_Maybe this won't be as easy as I was hoping…"_ Rydia thought as they reached the basement and were standing in front of the secret passage that they would take.

Contru pushed Rydia out of his mind as Cecil stopped and talked to one of the dwarves and then a secret door opened up. As they walked into the passageway, the air felt much cooler and Contru felt like he was back in the overworld.

"If only it would stay this cool the entire walk to the tower and I would be really happy." Contru commented as he tightened up his armor as he walked.

Yang nodded his head in agreement. "It must be cooler down here because it is under the ground and farther away from the magma then other parts."

"The walls have to be thicker down here as well." Kain commented. "If it was hotter in the ground they would need thicker walls to resist the heat that is produced and so it could possibly be cooler."

"I really don't care how it is cooler down here, just that it is and that makes me very happy." Contru smiled as they headed down some stairs into a small holding room that had some maps of the underworld and showed where the Tower of Babil was in comparison to the castle. When Contru looked at the map and saw how far away the tower was he turned to Cecil with a concerned look on his face. "Are we walking all that way up there?"

Cecil shook his head and laughed a little bit. "No we're not, we're riding most of the way on the tanks that the dwarves have and when we get close we'll get off and they will start attacking and we'll sneak in while that is going on."

Contru breathed a sigh of relief when he was explained. "Good, I didn't want to even try to walk all that way in the heat. I know we would be dead within an hour." As Contru was talking about how relieved he was a dwarf came up and approached Cecil from behind.

"Everything is set, you ready?"

"Yes we are." Cecil said. With that the dwarf turned around and led them through some more hallways until they could start to feel the temperature rising again and they were outside of a cave in the open, magma not more then twenty feet from them. The party started to sweat immediately as they quickly found the way to the tank that they would ride in on the way to the tower. Once they were all inside they got seated and started to cool down a bit being out of the heat that was caused by the magma.

"It's a very good thing we don't have to be down here to long. I don't know how much of the heat I can stand." Contru said, wiping the sweat off of his brow and taking a quick sip of water.

"I agree with Contru on that. I have had hard training before but I'm not sure if I could even take this heat much longer." Yang said as he too wiped the sweat from his shaved scalp.

Cecil nodded his head and leaned back into his seat as the tank started to move. "Once we have these crystals, it'll be much harder for Golbez to do anything. We'll have him in a much better position for us to come to us and maybe have a better chance to defeat him again and for good this time."

Contru nodded and leaned back and closed his eyes to rest for the upcoming battles. _"I just hope that Cecil is right and we can defeat Golbez for good…I just hope that Rog is taking good care of Mythrila as well in my absence."_

Rog was still amazed at how big the castle at Baron was. The castle itself was bigger then the entire town of Mythrila was and held at least three times as many people in it.

"Is this the biggest castle in the world?" Rog asked Cid who was bolting on any piece of mythril as Rog held it up for him.

"No it ain't. Fabul's the biggest one around. The entire town is held inside the castle but then again, the entire town is the army for that place so it would make sense to have them all inside." Cid put the last bolt in and moved towards another part of the ship.

"How much longer is this going to take Cid? I'm sure that Contru and Cecil are wondering where you are at by now."

"Ah don't get yer underwear in a knot. Cecil trusts me that I'll be there as fast as I can so stop yer worrin!" Cid looked over and saw that two of his workers were slacking off and not working on getting the mythril on the ship. "Did I tell you boys that you could have a break! Get back to work or I'll come over there and make sure you NEVER want to take a break again." The two immediately got back to work putting the mythril onto the ship because they did want to incur Cid's wrath. "Sometimes you can never find any good help." Rog held the piece steady as Cid put the bolts into it.

Even though Cid had told Rog to not worry, he was. Rog knew that Contru could handle himself and from what he had heard on the ride over here with Cid that Cecil and Kain could hold their own as well. _"I just keep thinking that something isn't right. Something is going on where they need us there now and not later." _Rog was so deep in thought that he did not notice that Cid was ready to move on and so to get his attention threw a bolt at him, hitting Rog right in the face.

"Ow, that hurt Cid!"

"Well you better keep paying attention or I'll kick yer butt into shape in order to get this ship done as soon as we can. We only have a few more plates on this side and then the other side should be nearly done as long as those guys over there kept hard at work so let's go so we can help everyone out down there."

Even though Rog was angry at the man for throwing the bolt at his face, he knew he was right. He could worry all he wanted and still keep up with the work that needed to be done. Rog went and helped Cid pick up the sheet of mythril and again just held it in place for the engineer as he did what he did best.

Rog looked around while holding the sheet and started to see Baron as a place he could learn to like. He had always thought that he would never like big castles and cities, but it seemed the people of this town still had a small town mindset to them in this big city. He had only seen the town of Baron on the approach to the castle but from what he saw, it was a huge bustling economic center. The port was filled with ships that must've had goods from all around the world. His father had said that eventually one of the cities would take a prominent position over the rest of them, he just didn't think that it would have come this soon. He had remember going with his father to Mysidia and Agart and hearing about the big cities up north and wanted to at least see them. Now he was smack on the middle of one of these cities during a war and the commerce was still going strong. The be a merchant is this city must be a tough business because of how crazy and hectic everything could get with the sheer size of the city and the amount of goods being moved around.

As Cid was bolting the last piece into place he breathed a sigh of relief and having finished the work that they had need to do.

"Okay, now we just need to make sure they are all done on that side and we're good to go!" Cid dropped the tool he had been using onto the ground and ran around to the other side. Rog followed him around and saw that they had finished over on the other side. The ship seemed to shine in the sun now because of the all the mythril. It was a site to see the mythril that he had been selling for years actually at work on something besides weapons and other tools to kill people with. Rog saw that Cid was telling the worker something and the only thing that he heard was the word "hook." He had no idea what it was for and would have to remember to ask Cid about it later.

"Okay, get on, we need to go goin'" Cid yelled at Rog as he walked by him.

"We're ready then?"

"Of course we are, all we needed to do was put the mythril on the ship, let's go already! Jeez, what is with you people from Mythrila. All you people seem to do is blackmail and ask questions, didn't your pa raise you guys right?"

Rog laughed as he ducked into the ship. "Of course they did, we're all merchants, it's our business to blackmail and ask questions." Rog gave a smile to Cid as he stormed up the stairs onto the deck as Rog made sure the door shut. Before Rog could even get up the stairs Cid was already putting the Enterprise into the air and on its way towards Agart.

The heat inside of the tank was not all that bad, but with seven people jammed inside, it made the air all stale and also gave the air the taste of the body odor. Contru was just trying to relax, trying to remain calm with everything that was changing around them. Contru slid his eyes open and saw Rydia looking at him while at the same time trying to not look at him. He knew though when women were trying to avert their gaze, he had seen it all the time in Mythrila and he knew it. Normally though all the women were staring at Rog or one of the crewmen, not him though, because most knew that he would never ever commit to a relationship, they had tried, but by now most of them had given up. _"If I have nothing to lose, then it makes life easier…doesn't it?"_ He thought to himself as he looked at Rydia. She was beautiful though. Her green hair framed her face well, almost as if setting it in the middle of a perfect picture of a goddess come down from above. Her body, too, also had all the features of a woman as well, curves at just the right spots. _"No, you know what happened the last time someone you cared about died, you want that same feeling again? If you know what's best, you will put her out of your mind and focus on the task in front of you."_ Contru moved his eyes from Rydia and sat up straighter looking only ahead of him and keeping his gaze from her at all. Out of the corner of his eye though, he saw the disappointment on her face. All she might try to hide it, he could tell. _"If I need to hurt them in order to keep them away, I will."_

"Contru, tell me about your training that you've received in the past. No one I've seen wields a blade like you do." Cecil asked when he saw that Contru was alert and awake.

"What do you mean Cecil? My stance doesn't differ all that much from yours, does it?" Contru replied as he moved up a seat so that he would be closer to Cecil, and also remove Rydia from his field of vision.

"No, it doesn't, but at the same time when you parry the attacks that come your way, you parry them upward instead of downward, it's only a minor thing I know, but it still does make your fighting style different from mine."

"Ah well, the person that trained me said that it doesn't really matter which way you parry an attack coming after you, but I've seen from most of my time fighting against pirates and roughnecks that if you parry their attacks upward you can catch them off balance and get them in a position to do the killing blow or force them to surrender. The down parry is what everyone always expects and will be ready to counter. It's just my choice on what I do, not anything different about the actually stance I don't believe."

"I see, maybe I'll have to give the upward parry a try sometime and see how it works. Not too sure how it would work against trained soldiers, but it might be worth a shot to throw someone off." Cecil said as he sat back in his chair and almost lost the coronet that was on his head. "How much further till we get to the tower?"

"Soon, in sight now it is." The dwarf said as he continued to pilot the tank. Contru climbed up and looked out the tiny slits that were there for the driver to see out of it and caught a glimpse of the tower, he could not even tell its size just by looking at it from there. Knowing that the battle was coming, he glanced down at his belt, making sure everything was in its proper place. This would be the first time Contru had actually taken part in a siege of something, he had only been the one on the defending side. As if sensing this Cecil put his hand on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine Contru. This is your first time actually attacking a place, isn't it?"

Contru nodded his head and shifted towards Cecil a bit. "I always said I would use my sword to defend people only, but with what Golbez is trying to do with the crystals and gathering them up, I feel that just standing around is the wrong thing to do. I'm just trying to get my mind into the right place. I don't need to go into the Tower with my mind not focused on staying alive."

Cecil only nodded his head and patted him on the shoulder. He shifted himself towards the back to check on things with Rosa and prepare to disembark. Contru thought of doing the same thing, but he Rydia was back there and wanted to avoid that. Last thing he needed was to get caught in by a woman and find himself distracted looking at her. The ground suddenly shook as the tower had started its assault against the tanks that were coming in. Contru steadied himself against the walls of the tank as more and more shells came in. He knew right now that some of the tanks the other dwarves were driving were getting by the cannons, but they had known what they were doing.

The tank continued to make its approach, and as they got closer, the cannons could no longer hit them. This left them in the clear to disembark and as if reading his mind, the tank driver stoped, and bellowed. "End of line, get a move on!" The door swung open and Cecil lead the charge out, followed closely by Yang and Kain. Cecil made sure everything was clear and beckoned Rydia an Rosa out. Contru, being at the very front of the tank, was the last one out and gave a swift kick to the door so that the driver knew to shut it. The tank quickly went off to try and cover up what it had done, Contru just hoped it would work.

"It appears to be clear; we need to get to the tower fast otherwise the dwarves will get slaughtered!" Cecil yelled over the cannons firing from the tower and the tanks and began to lead them towards where the base of the tower seemed to be. Contru keep pace with the rest but keep their rear guarded just in case something sprang out from somewhere, but the likelihood of that happening was remote. The monsters would have to come out of the ground for that to work, but it was best someone was keeping the backside safe. The Tower of Babil was looming over them, rising into the darkness that was the bottom of the planet. Contru felt a sudden feeling of dread and smallness as he looked up to it. The tower had to have been built by some other people, because from what he had heard from the dwarves, they had not built it, nor did they know where it came from. It had always been there, looming on their horizon, but never active and never a threat, until recently.

Cecil had halted the line at the front and Contru could see why. They were at the stairs that lead to the entrance of the tower. Even they seemed to go on forever upwards; _"This tower was not originally built for the people of this planet"_ Contru started to realize.

"That's a lot of stairs that we have to climb." Kain said trying to figure out a way he could avoid them knowing him.

"We have no choice old friend, we must get inside and recover the crystals, if we don't the lives lost will mean nothing." The sound of the cannons here was almost deafening to all of them standing there. Cecil seemed like he was beginning to regret this, like he was uncertain they would be able to accomplish this task. Contru, not wanting to stand in the heat all day, decided to be the first to move.

"Those stairs aren't going to magically turn into some sort of magically teleport, best start climbing now and worry later about how tired we are." Contru walked past everyone and headed for the stairs at a quick pace. The rest of them started to fall in behind him, getting ready for the long climb into the actual tower.


End file.
